Are India's skies safe? Air safety watchdog responds amid rising concerns

Concerns about air safety in India have grown after a tragic plane crash in June, which killed at least 270 people. The accident happened when a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, flying from Ahmedabad to London, crashed less than a minute after takeoff. This was the third major air accident in India in the past 15 years, and it has made many people question whether flying in India is truly safe. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the head of India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), insists that India's skies are safe. He points out that, according to global safety statistics, India usually has fewer accidents per million flights than the world average. Only in two years since 2010 did India have more accidents than the global average, and those were the years when major crashes happened.

Despite these reassurances, recent events have raised new worries. For example, a flight from Delhi to Srinagar experienced severe turbulence, and there have been more reports of maintenance problems and issues with pilot training. One of the most concerning cases involved SpiceJet, a major low-cost airline in India. Earlier this year, two of SpiceJet's planes had propeller problems. Instead of fixing the root cause, the airline just added more grease to the parts. The company that made the propellers, Dowty Propellers from the UK, was not happy with this and reported the issue to India's aviation regulator. When the DGCA checked, they found even more problems with SpiceJet's planes. As a result, the DGCA made the airline take action, including removing and suspending some managers who were responsible for safety.

Another incident involved Air India Express, which was caught delaying the replacement of a required engine part and changing records to make it look like they had followed the rules. When the DGCA found out, they made the airline admit the mistake and take steps to prevent it from happening again. Mr. Kidwai said that while he does not approve of these mistakes, he is glad that airlines are now reporting problems more often. He believes it is better for every issue to be reported and fixed, rather than hidden.

Since 2020, Indian airlines have reported nearly 2,500 technical faults. IndiGo, the largest airline, reported more than half of these, followed by SpiceJet and Air India. The number of flights and passengers in India has grown rapidly in the last decade. There are now almost 850 planes flying for scheduled airlines, and the number of air passengers has more than doubled since 2014. The number of airports has also increased a lot. However, the aviation regulator has not received more money or resources, even though the workload has grown.

After the June crash, there was a small drop in the number of people flying, but it did not last long. Mr. Kidwai said that it is normal for people to feel anxious after a big accident, but as more information comes out and people understand what happened, their fears usually go away. He believes that India is still a safe place to fly, and the government is working to make sure that safety standards are followed as the aviation industry continues to grow.