India needs independent aviation safety board, DGCA overhaul: Aviation expert

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requires a fundamental overhaul and India should establish an independent aviation safety board to strengthen air safety oversight, Federation of Indian Pilots founding president and former Air India pilot Minoo Wadia said on Sunday.

In an interview with IANS, Wadia said concerns over the structure and functioning of the aviation regulator are not new and have been repeatedly raised with the government over several decades.

He said the Federation of Indian Pilots had written to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Civil Aviation on multiple occasions seeking reforms aimed at improving aviation safety.

“…We have written to the Prime Minister, to the Ministry, that there are two essential things which are required for safety on air. One is an independent safety board, and secondly, is total revamping of the office of the DGCA,” he said.

“First of all, when you talk of the Federation of Indian Pilots, why did we form the Federation of Indian Pilots? Earlier in those days, when I came from the Air Force and joined Air India, there was not a single aviator in the whole office of the DGCA. The DGCA was only full of bureaucrats. So my question is, why are we blaming them? How do you expect them to understand about aviation if they’re all bureaucrats?” Wadia told IANS.

He argued that aviation is a highly technical field and therefore requires regulators with deep technical knowledge and operational expertise.

While acknowledging that some changes have taken place over the years, Wadia said the overall structure and attitude of the DGCA have not evolved sufficiently to meet the growing demands of the aviation sector.

Addressing the turbulence experienced during the Phuket-Delhi flight, Wadia said turbulence is a routine occurrence in aviation and can arise from various weather conditions.

Severe turbulence is often associated with cumulonimbus cloud formations, while clear-air turbulence can occur even when no visible clouds are present.

“As far as the turbulence on the aircraft is concerned, anywhere you fly in the world, turbulence is a very common phenomenon. There are different types of turbulence. Most of the time, it’s from the clouds, which are vertical, which I call nimbostratus clouds or cumulonimbus clouds,” he stated.

–IANS

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