Meaningful Action

The newly appointed Minister of Civil Aviation has publicly vowed to eliminate the malaise afflicting civil aviation and has ordered a comprehensive audit of the 40 flying training schools in the country

While investigating a case of faulty landing technique adopted by a lady pilot of IndGo Airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) appears to have inadvertently stumbled upon a “licensing scam”, the precise span and depth of which is yet to be assessed and made available in the public domain. And if one is to go by the way investigations are usually carried out by DGCA, one can rest assured that the facts may not be available in the public domain at least not while the episode is still lingering in public memory. And if any of the senior functionaries of the DGCA or the Ministry of Civil Aviation are involved, the task of the investigating agency especially if it is from within the organisation would be rendered that much more difficult. In due course, the investigations may just vanish like a feeble stream in the desert sands.

In this particular case, on January 11 this year, the nose landing gear of an Airbus A320 aircraft with passengers on board under command of the lady pilot now under scrutiny, suffered serious damage while touching down on the runway at Goa airport. Preliminary investigations reveal that the lady pilot in question had been involved in a similar incident earlier too and possibly had obtained her Airline Transport Pilot Licence by fraudulent means after having failed the examinations conducted by the DGCA. Prima facie, it should be at least difficult if not impossible for such things to happen without the connivance of the licensing authority. On paper, of course, as certified by the Federal Aviation Administration of the USA, the DGCA is “fully compliant with international standards”. With impeccable international credentials, it will be difficult for any investigating agency to find fault with the organisation and its systems. Besides, as individuals who subvert a system usually ensure that their tracks are well covered, it should not be surprising that the investigations reach a dead end or peter out with some inconsequential individuals in the organisation brought to book, merely for regularisation of the time, effort and resources expended by the investigating agency. Also, there is always the possibility that this sordid affair could be overtaken and masked by the next and possibly bigger scam of national concern. Who then is responsible for the follow up? Certainly not the media whose demeanour is like an ephemeral thunderstorm!

In the prevailing climate where value systems appear to have been severely compromised at the national level, many will regard the subversion of another government agency as routine. However, the more serious problem lies with the large number of establishments in the country masquerading as flying training schools which have been and will continue to churn out ill trained pilots with doubtful competence, who in due course will wriggle through the regulatory authority and end up in command of aeroplanes putting the lives of hundreds if not thousands of unsuspecting souls in jeopardy. A majority of schools operational in the country today barely meet the “technical” requirements laid down by the regulator in respect of the minimum number of aircraft. As regards instructors both for flying and ground training, the institutions again focus on minimum numbers required to sail through inspections by the regulator prior to certification. The inspectors from DGCA usually from non-aviation background focus more on documentation than on ground realities. While the flying instructors employed may once again satisfy the minimum requirement of numbers, quality and competence of the staff is nowhere in the list of priorities or considerations. Financial stringency also compels institutions to employ flying instructors with low experience as they cost relatively less to the company.