FIP demands air safety board

Mincing no words, the report had branded the functioning of the DGCA as archaic and inefficient. “It’s a mill stone around the neck which would hamper even the most competent and resourceful people from being able to do their job well,” says the report, which also suggested an independent safety board.

The president of FIP, Captain M R Wadia, said: “A lot of time and effort had gone into the tabling of the Seth Committee Report, but its findings have not been implemented. I have suggested that we should at least have a separate safety board on the lines of the one existing in the US; because presently the functioning of DGCA is autocratic.”

At last Wednesday’s press conference minister Sharad Yadav had not got into the details of the new aviation policy on the ground that it was still be formulated. However, when asked by press persons, the Secretary of Civil Aviation, Ravindra Gupta had stated that the government was open to suggestions and new ideas – though he did not specifically comment on the demand for a separate safety board.

FIP has also suggested an independent Safety Audit in civil aviation, akin to the CAG.