While the director-general of civil aviation is pointing to pilots’ mistake as the reason for the Mangalore crash, senior aviation experts and captains blame the flight duty time limitations (FDTL) rules and say that lives of air passengers are in danger in India.
“As the director-general of civil aviation (DGCA) is still following an old circular framed in 1992 for its flight duty time limitations (FDTL) rules, many airline pilots in India are forced to fly up to 12 hours continuously, and which gives more than 14 hours of strain and mental stress for them,” said a senior Air India pilot.
“Though DGCA amended FDTL rules in 2007, it kept it in abeyance and brought back the rules of 1992, which are now in force. These FDTL rules do not address pilot fatigue. Scientific studies prove that the rules in the old circular are not enough to maintain the safety and secure the aviation system in India in its current status of air traffic movements,” said Captain A. Ranganathan, an Indian aviation expert and an air commander with 35 years of flying experience.
According to aviation experts, DGCA permits a minimum of nine hours flying for international pilots and sometimes also gives concession to airlines up to 10-12 hours, which is against international standards of the profession that needs more concentration and relaxation compared to other professions.
“Sometimes, we fly up to 12 hours and we may have to extend the duty up to 16 hours also. Though we have pointed out the dangers of such practices, DGCA is yet to address the issue, which may lead to major air crashes,” says Capt. D. Balram, general secretary of the national aviators guild and a friend of Capt H.S. Ahluwalia, the co-pilot of the crashed aircraft.
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Change in schedule proves lucky for one
Amit S. Upadhye
Bengaluru
Eight survivors of the aircraft tragedy in Mangalore may be thanking their stars for being alive to tell the tale. But here is a woman, who is thanking her luck for cancelling her schedule in the ill-fated Boeing which overshot the runway in Mangalore on Saturday morning.
Despite booking a ticket in the aircraft that crashed in Mangalore, she had preponed her trip to attend a marriage. Shashikala Shetty, who had booked her tickets to Mangalore from Dubai to attend a wedding, changed her plans in the last minute.
Her daughter Jyothi Shetty from Dubai, who spoke to The Asian Age, said that two days before the scheduled flight she booked her mother on the 19th.