Sources said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) team is accompanied by AK Bhardwaj, deputy director, Air Space and Air Traffic Management, DGCA, apart from officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and other departments.
A United Nations-backed aviation regulator team is in Mumbai to inspect preparedness of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) at the city airport. The team will next head to Kolkata for the same.
Sources said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) team is accompanied by AK Bhardwaj, deputy director, Air Space and Air Traffic Management, DGCA, apart from officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and other departments. After visiting the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Complex, which houses most of the air navigation system infrastructure near Sahar in Andheri (East), the audit team went to the new ATC tower, also called as Sky Tower, outside domestic terminal (1B) in Vile Parle. "The ICAO team is expected at the CSIA terminal and aircraft operation area on Tuesday," confirmed a CSIA official.
According to airport sources, the team inspected the Safety Management System and held a one-to-one conversation with the personnel working on it. "The ICAO officials seemed strict and insisted that only the one being questioned answer and no one else. The others, including senior officials, who were not required to be present, were asked to keep out until called," said a senior airport insider.
This is the second audit of India's aviation safety oversight this year, with the first being carried by American watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in April, thereby restoring the country's safety rating (which it had earlier downgraded). The ICAO audit, which is generally more comprehensive, looks into parameters such as legislation, organisation, licensing, operation, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation and aerodromes of the DGCA.
The ICAO audit of the DGCA in 2012 had bracketed India among the 13 worst-performing nations, prompting the FAA to conduct its own scrutiny in January 2014. The FAA audit later downgraded India's safety rating to category 2, indicating the shortage in meeting the required standards set by the ICAO. Similarly, even in the 2006 audit, the UN body had highlighted 70 findings and recommendations.
The civil aviation ministry last week, in a statement, claimed that the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which is mandated with airport safety, has fully met the target of implementation of security norms prescribed by the ICAO. The ICAO team had also audited the BCAS in October across nine areas, including legislative and regulatory architecture, performance of security personnel and security training.
"They have noted that effective implementation of aviation security in India stands at 99.23%. Similarly, India's compliance of ICAO security requirements stands at 99.59%. The global average for effective implementation of aviation security and for compliance of ICAO security requirements stands at 66%," a civil aviation ministry official said.
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