The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday issued specific measures for aviation sector players to mitigate the risk of runway incursions at Indian airports. The measures include activating stop bars by Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) to inform aircraft when not to proceed, establishing contingency plans in case stop bars malfunction, establishing runway safety teams at airports, and conducting comprehensive training programs for pilots, ATC personnel, aircraft maintenance engineers, and airport drivers.
The rapid growth of airlines and air passengers would necessitate an additional 2000-3000 commercial pilots in the country during the next 5-10 years, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. \n
The civil aviation ministry has issued guidelines for scheduled carriers to launch global operations, making it mandatory for them to have at least 20 aircraft, five years of domestic operations and security clearance from the Union home ministry.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released a draft procedure that calls for testing pilots, other aviation personnel and crew members for psychoactive substances before they take to the skies. The Indian civil aviation regulator has sought comments from stakeholders over the next 30 days before issuing a regulation to this effect. Asking airlines and airports to do random checks on crew and air traffic controllers, DGCA proposed that violators be suspended for a minimum of three years or their licence be permanently cancelled as maximum punishment.
Mid-air Holi celebrations aboard eight flights have cost no-frill carrier SpiceJet heavily.
With low-visibility conditions significantly disrupting flight operations at the Delhi airport, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise fog-related impact as well as passenger inconvenience, and asserted that unruly passenger behaviour is unacceptable.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed the civil aviation regulator to deregister planes leased to Go First within five working days, giving respite to the lessors. This means that the airline will have to give back all 54 aircraft to the lessors if its resolution professional (RP) does not challenge the order or ask for a stay. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju also refused the request of the RP, represented by advocate Diwakar Maheshwari, to keep the operation of the order in abeyance for a week to enable them to file an appeal before the division Bench of the court.
The commercial launch of the new Bangalore international airport is likely to be deferred by two to three weeks from the scheduled date of March 28 in view of the delay in completing the air traffic control (ATC) facility, the nerve centre of the airport.DGCA had expressed concern over several safety provisions, including the incomplete ATC facility at the airport. Flights will continue to operate from the existing HAL airport.
Revealing that 70 per cent of incidents involving airplanes are due to pilot error and most are due to non-compliance of procedures which are "avoidable", Kanu Gohain, director general of DGCA, said the aviation regulatory body has stepped up measures to ensure strict compliance of operational procedures.
The aviation regulator DGCA said on Friday that it was extending the suspension of scheduled international passenger flights in the country till July 31 but added that some international scheduled services on selected routes may be permitted on a case to case basis. Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Indian carriers transported 12.8 million domestic passengers in March 2023, a year-on-year growth of 21.41 per cent. India's largest carrier IndiGo shored up its domestic market share from 53.8 per cent in Q4 of FY22 to 55.7 per cent in Q4 of FY23, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data released on Monday.
Hyderabad-based Turbo Megha Airways became the fourth company to receive flying licence from aviation regulator DGCA in the past two years to launch a regional airline.
Pilots may soon get to fly beyond the age of 61 years.
SpiceJet said its flight heading to Jabalpur returned to Delhi on Saturday after the crew members observed smoke in the cabin at around 5,000-feet altitude.
The bankruptcy tribunal had on July 5, prevented the Directorate General of Civil Aviation from deregistering the Boeing 777 plane, which has been under the possession of a Dutch cargo provider since April.
The move follows the recent probe report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday started the special audit of the facilities of Go First, which has sought approval for restarting operations. A team of officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) started the special audit of the facilities of Go First in Mumbai on Tuesday, according to an airline executive. The audit of the facilities will be done on Wednesday also.
The pilot, who was the first officer on the flight, landed the aircraft at the Indore airport recently without first getting the requisite training in a simulator, they said.
Earlier in the day, an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft landed successfully at 1.32 pm at runway 08/26 of the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport, paving the way for the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL) to seek an aerodrome licence from the aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to start commercial flight services.
A notification in this regard is likely to be issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Monday.
Grounded Go First's CEO Kaushik Khona has put in his papers, nearly seven months after the no-frills airline filed for insolvency proceedings. In an e mail to the airline's employees on Thursday, Khona said that November 30 is his last day at the company. Khona had returned to Go First in August 2020 as its CEO.
An A320neo plane of Tata Group-run Air India returned to the Mumbai airport just 27 minutes after takeoff as one of its engines shut down midair due to a technical issue, sources said on Friday.
The watchdog would also endeavour to do its best to help the company revive its operations within the set regulatory framework.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday suspended operations at Redbird Flight Training Academy, one of India's largest flight schools, across all five of its training bases in the country. This action was taken after five accidents involving the institute's planes in the past six months. The DGCA announced it would conduct an audit of the academy's maintenance practices and also proficiency checks of the institute's flight instructors before allowing it to resume operations.
IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precaution on Sunday after pilots observed defect in one of the engines, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said.
Jet Airways conducted its test flight to and from the Hyderabad airport on Thursday in a step towards obtaining the air operator certificate. Jet Airways, which has not flown since April 17, 2019, is currently in the process of re-launching operations under its new promoters Jalan-Kalrock Consortium. On Thursday, the airline's CEO Sanjiv Kapoor said on Twitter that the test flight's operation was a very emotional moment "for all the wonderful folks who have been working hard to get Jet back in the skies".
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken action against 57 pilots for drunken flying in the past one year, terminating the service of 10 of them, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
IndiGo confirmed the incident but said the aircraft did not face any technical issue in the past.
An IndiGo aircraft grazed the wings of an Air India Express plane at the Kolkata airport on Wednesday, leaving the wings of both aircraft damaged, officials said.
There was no injury to any passenger or crew. The aircraft landed safely at Delhi airport, the official confirmed.
India will keep its scheduled international passenger flights suspended till January 31 next year, aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday.
The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till July 31, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
A passenger on a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger in a drunken state, sources said on Sunday.
A SpiceJet plane was damaged on Monday when its wing hit a lightning pole at the Delhi airport when the aircraft was pushed back from the parking position to be ready for takeoff to Jammu, DGCA officials said.
A new rule has been drafted by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation formally empowering the pilot-in-command of all flights to take suitable action to prevent such commotion which could endanger safety of the flight or passengers or crew members.
On Monday, the Boeing B737 Max aircraft with registration number VT-SZK operated the Mangaluru-Dubai flight, DGCA officials noted. After the aircraft landed, an engineer did a walk around inspection and found the nose wheel strut was compressed more than usual, they said.
The bench asked the respondents to file their response to the petition which seeks the constitution of a committee to examine 'workable solutions' to ensure that a kirpan permitted to be carried on the flight is 'appropriately designed and crafted' and does not have a blade length beyond 4 cm.
