India retains topmost US aviation safety category

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) The US Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) Thursday confirmed India's topmost
category status on aviation safety and said the country was
considered a "role model" in this field for other nations to
follow.
An FAA team, which was here to conduct safety audit,
today informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) that India continued to remain in Category-1 status of
FAA under its International Aviation Safety Assessment
Programme (IASA), an official spokesperson said.
The safety audit came in the backdrop of the May 22
Mangalore aircrash and several aviation safety incidents.
At a meeting with the DGCA, the FAA team said the
Indian regulator continued to sustain the actions demonstrated
last year in meeting international standards for effective
safety oversight of India's airline industry, she said.
The FAA concluded that India not only continued to
meet FAA's IASA Category-1 status but was also considered to
be a 'role model' and played a leadership role for other
nations in the Asian region in the civil aviation sector.
During the discussions today, the FAA flagged
following four areas for consultation, which included
availability of qualified technical personnel in DGCA,
technical guidance for them and resolution of safety concerns.
The FAA had for the first time in 1997 put India in
the top category. In 2006 and later in March 2009, it made a
reassessment and raised concerns over inadequate technical
guidance for DGCA inspectors, hiring and retaining technical
personnel, establishment of an ongoing surveillance programme
of air operators and resolution of some safety issues.
After DGCA took steps to resolve these issues, the FAA
team revisited India in September last year and granted India
the top category.
The categorisation enables Indian carriers and their
aircraft to fly to the US and other countries. It also helps
in the export of Indian-made equipment and parts to the US for
use by the aviation industry there.
In case of a downgrade to Category-2, no expansion or
changes would be permitted in the services of Indian carriers
by the US and the existing operations would have to be
subjected to 'heightened FAA surveillance'.
Such a downgrade would not only have an adverse
economic impact but would also be a setback to India's image
in the international aviation community.
The FAA carries out such audits under US laws to
ensure that a country's aviation regulator like DGCA has the
capability to provide safety certification and continuing
oversight on its international carriers. PTI ARC
MYR


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