NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday rolled out a series of stringent measures, citing a “recent surge in aviation incidents.”The enhanced safety directives were announced after a high-level meeting between the aviation regulator and Non-Scheduled Operators (NSOPs). The review came a day after an air ambulance en route to Delhi crashed in Jharkhand, killing all seven people on board, and nearly a month after a fatal crash involving a private aircraft carrying then Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on January 28.“The regulator emphasized that safety must remain the absolute priority, superseding all commercial operations, charter commitments, or VIP movements. The authority asserted that an organization’s leadership must prioritize safety above all other criteria. To support this, the authority reaffirmed that the Pilot-in-Command’s decision to divert, delay or cancel a flight for safety reasons is final and must be respected by operators without commercial consequences,” the DGCA said in a statement.It announced the following safety measures, to be implemented with immediate effect:
- NSOP operators will display all critical safety information on their websites
- DGCA is planning to implement a safety ranking mechanism for all non-scheduled operators
- Increased random audits of Cockpit Voice Recorder
- Senior leadership of private operators to be held accountable for non-compliance
- License suspension of up to five years of pilots violating duty time limitations
- License suspension and penalties for operators failing to meet compliance standards
- Increased monitoring of older aircraft and those undergoing ownership change
- Operators to establish real-time weather update systems
According to the DGCA, these guidelines constitute “phase 1” of a special safety audit of non-scheduled operators. The first phase is expected to be completed in early March, after which a second phase will be undertaken.DGCA on Ajit Pawar plane crashMeanwhile, the DGCA also announced that, following a safety audit of Delhi-based VSR Ventures Private Limited — which operated the Learjet involved in Pawar’s ill-fated flight — it is grounding the Learjet fleet with immediate effect.“The multi-disciplinary audit team observed several non-compliances of approved procedures in the organisation (VSR) in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations. In view of the non-compliances, it is decided to initiate the corrective measures by immediately grounding Learjet 40/45 aircraft with registration VT-VRA, VT-VRS, VT-VRV, and VT-TRI till continued airworthiness standards are restored,” the body noted in a separate statement.Pawar was flying from Mumbai to his hometown of Baramati, a short journey, when the plane crashed and burst into flames near Baramati airport. His personal security officer, the two pilots, and a flight attendant also lost their lives, leaving no survivors.
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