(a) whether safety standards are not being followed by some airline companies in the country and if so, the
details thereof;
(b) whether this has led to emergency landing of some aircraft recently and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the action taken so far by the Government/ Directorate General of Civil Aviation in this regard?
Minister of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia)
(a) to (c) A statement is laid on the table of the House.
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Statement referred in reply to Part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 162 regarding "Non-adherence to Safety Standards by Airlines" to be answered on 28.07.2022 ;
(a) All the airline companies operate in accordance with the Aircraft Rules and Civil Aviation Requirements. These requirements are consistent with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standard and Recommended Practices as contained in various Annex to the ICAO Chicago Convention. The compliance of the Civil Aviation Requirements, conditions of issue of Licence/Approval/Air Operator Certificate/Air Operator Permit is assessed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) through a systematic safety oversight process. The safety oversight process includes surveillances, spot check and regulatory audits embodied in Annual Surveillance Programme.
(b) During the last three months including the current month, due to system malfunction there were four incidents wherein the operating crew declared emergency. The details is given at Annexure;
(c) Post incident appropriate maintenance action is carried out in accordance with the approved maintenance programme to isolate the defect and rectify it. These occurrences are thoroughly analyzed and severity is determined. Based on severity, these occurrences are investigated. Appropriate action is taken on the outcome of investigation. The action taken by the DGCA, safety regulator in respect of the incidents referred to in reply to part (b) of the question is given in the Annexure against each incident. DGCA as safety oversight function, follows up with the concerned operator for compliance in respect of findings of audits, surveillances & inspections. The observations are closed after due verification. Further the compliance of the action taken by the operator is verified during the next audit/surveillance. In case of any violations/ non-compliance to regulations detected during audit/surveillance, enforcement action is imposed by the DGCA. During the ongoing inspection/investigation by DGCA in the month of July, 2022, 12 aircraft have been grounded for various technical discrepancies.
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