Indian aviation sector 'absolutely safe': DGCA chief
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New Delhi(PTI): Aviation watchdog DGCA's chief Arun Kumar on Sunday said technical snags faced by domestic carriers in recent weeks did not have the potential to cause havoc and that even foreign airlines that came to India reported 15 technical snags in the last 16 days.
The country's civil aviation space is "absolutely safe" and all the protocols laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) are followed, he said.
Against the backdrop of a spate of technical snags suffered by Indian airlines in recent weeks and DGCA curtailing operations of SpiceJet, Kumar stressed that there is no need to panic as none of the events that have been reported/discussed had the potential to cause havoc.
"All the snags experienced are routine and happen with all airlines and all types of fleet. In the last 16 days, even for the foreign operators who come to India, we have seen 15 technical snags, which have been attended and rectified," Kumar told PTI in an interview.
Specific details about snags that were faced by the overseas carriers were not disclosed.
According to Kumar, the snags faced by the foreign operators were similar to that encountered by the Indian carriers.
In recent times, more than a dozen instances of Indian carriers facing technical snags have become public, especially in the case of SpiceJet, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is keeping a close watch on the developments.
"What most of them (recent incidents of technical snags) required was troubleshooting, replacement of some component say windshield due to outer layer crack, defective valve, high-pressure switch, landing gear uplock, hydraulic accumulator or an engine," Kumar said.
The regulator has started a two-month-long special audit of airlines to address possible issues and has curtailed the operations of SpiceJet, among other measures, amid a spurt in instances of technical snags.
After being severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the domestic civil aviation sector is on the recovery path and on average, there are more than 6,000 aircraft movements in the Indian airspace daily. If overflying planes are also taken into account, the total would be over 7,000 movements.
Aircraft movements include landings as well as departures.
In the three-month period from April 1 to June 30 this year, a total of 150 incidents occurred to the aircraft operated by scheduled airlines due to component and system malfunction, according to the civil aviation ministry.
During the period from May 2 to July 13, DGCA undertook a special drive of 353 spot checks.
Emphasising that the aviation sector is "process-driven", Kumar said, "there are hundreds of thousands of components in an aircraft and if one or two components have issues, it does not always mean that there are high risks or the possibility of fatal incidents".
He also noted that it will be naive to assume that an aircraft, which flies till it is airworthy, does 40-50 thousand hours of flying, will not have a technical snag.
On July 27, DGCA directed SpiceJet to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks and decided to keep the airline under enhanced surveillance in the wake of a spate of technical snags suffered by the carrier's planes.
The same day, SpiceJet issued a statement saying that due to the current lean travel season, the airline like others had already rescheduled its flight operations and that there will be absolutely no impact on its flight operations.
Responding to reservations expressed in certain quarters that DGCA action against SpiceJet was not strong enough, Kumar said, "I am not here to shut down airlines. My role is to take measures to ensure safe and efficient flying".
The DGCA chief also mentioned that the fleet of Indian carriers is mostly young compared to those of many other countries. "The focus is always on safety and to ensure that any situation is not allowed to worsen".
The safety oversight process of DGCA includes surveillance, spot check and regulatory audits embodied in the annual surveillance programme.
On July 28, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Lok Sabha that a total of 478 technical snags were reported in the last one year -- from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
