NOT MAYDAY, BUT INDIAN CIVIL AVIATION HAS ITS HEAD IN THE CLOUD

THOUGH THE NUMBER OF MIDAIR SCARES IS MINISCULE COMPARED WITH TOTAL OPERATIONS, THE FREQUENCY–AND THE RATE OF INCREASE–OF THE OCCURENCES SHOULD SET THE ALARM BELLS RINGING

- SHRABONA GHOSH

A slight midair turbulence is enough to send chills down a passenger’s spine, let alone the so-called technical snag. Indian flyers, however, are getting used to flight diversions and emergency landings as snags are becoming the norm, if we may. The government informed Parliament on August 1 that airlines have reported 478 technical snags between July 1, 2021 and June 30 this year. Technical snag (defect) means a condition existing in an aircraft (including its systems) or aircraft component arising from any cause other than damage, which would preclude it or another aircraft component from performing their intended functions, said a report. “During operations, an aircraft may experience technical snags due to malfunctioning of components/equipment fitted on the aircraft which require rectification by the airlines for continued safe, efficient and reliable air transport service. These technical snags are reported by the flight crew on receiving an aural or visual warning in the cockpit or an indication of an inoperative/faulty system or while experiencing difficulty in operating the aircraft,” said Jyotiraditya Scindia, minister of civil aviation, in the Lok Sabha in late July.

INSUFFICIENT STAFF? Taking cognisance of the recent snags, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducted spot checks and found that there is an insufficient number of engineering personnel certifying planes of various carriers before their departure. Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). "For the maintenance of narrow body aircraft, as a thumb rule, we require 03 B1 and 02 B2 AMEs per aircraft for line maintenance," said Lalit Gupta, former joint director general, DGCA.