DGCA sets up national aviation safety team to go into safety related issues

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has formed a "national aviation safety team" that will deal with issues related to safety in flying. According to DGCA chief, Kanu Gohain, the safety team will consist of a number of sub-committees with members from airlines and airports, along with other stakeholders that will look after issues such as operations and runway incursions.

Additionally, the DGCA will implement a "safety management system" that will be mandatory for all airlines from next January. "Under this system, there will be accountability by fixing responsibility for each thing," Gohain said at a meet on aviation safety in Mumbai.

The DGCA has also announced that the Indian airspace will soon be managed through a performance-based safety management system, which will allow more planes to fly at lesser distances and enable airports to accommodate increasing traffic.

According to joint director general, DGCA, AK Chopra, India had a three-tier safety audit system, including checks by airlines, third parties as well as the regulator. "We are constantly honing our emergency response system," Chopra said.

Jet Airways CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schaeur, welcomed these initiatives, saying: "These safety programmes will enable airlines to formulate and modify appropriate processes and procedures."