Strict Adherence to SOPs Must Be the Norm, India’s Aviation Safety Reckoning
Two fatal air crashes within a month have forced India’s aviation regulator to confront ground reality: safety lapses cannot always be blamed on pilots. Looking beyond errors at the individual level, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has turned the spotlight on systemic accountability.
These mishaps have claimed 12 lives: seven persons were killed when a Beechcraft C90 air ambulance went down in Jharkhand earlier this week; late last month, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was among the five who died in a Learjet 45 crash. Fortunately, five passengers and two crew members had a miraculous escape after a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed into the sea in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Tuesday.
The Human Cost
The tragedies have left families devastated, raising troubling questions about oversight and operational judgment. Each crash is not just a statistic; it is a collection of lives cut short, of families shattered, of futures erased. Twelve people died, and seven more had a brush with death. The toll is not just numerical; it is deeply human.
The Regulatory Response
The DGCA’s response—intensive audits, random Cockpit Voice Recorder checks, cross-verification of flight data and a public safety ranking mechanism—reflects a belated reboot on the regulatory front. This is not a moment too soon.
Aviation safety stands on the pillars of maintenance protocols, crew resource management, weather assessment systems and strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). When accident data over a decade points to non-adherence to SOPs, inadequate planning and training gaps, it’s evident that the problem has not been treated with the seriousness it direly deserves.
Beyond Blaming Pilots
Penalising a pilot after a crash may be expedient, but it does little to correct flawed organisational priorities. The pilot is the last line of defence, not the first. When a crash occurs, the question should not be “who made the error?” but “what system failed to prevent the error?”
Aviation is a complex system involving maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers, schedulers, regulators, and pilots. When something goes wrong, it is rarely due to a single individual’s mistake. More often, it is a cascade of failures across the system, each one small in itself, but together catastrophic.
The Pilot’s Final Authority
The DGCA has reaffirmed that a Pilot-in-Command’s decision to divert or cancel a flight must be final and free from commercial pressure. In a sector swamped with charter commitments and VIP movement, this norm should not be given short shrift.
Pilots should never have to choose between safety and their jobs. They should never be pressured to fly into unsafe conditions because a VIP needs to reach a destination. The authority to say “no” must be absolute and protected.
The Charter Sector Challenge
The charter and private aviation sector presents unique challenges. Unlike commercial airlines with extensive safety departments and regulatory oversight, charter operations can be more fragmented, with varying levels of safety culture. VIP movements add political pressure to complete flights regardless of conditions.
The DGCA’s audits must focus particularly on this sector. The crashes involving a Beechcraft air ambulance and a Learjet 45—both used in charter and air ambulance operations—highlight vulnerabilities that need addressing.
Enforcement and Follow-Through
Effective enforcement and sustained follow-through after audits will determine whether the corrective measures restore public trust. The DGCA needs to ensure that safety always takes precedence over revenue.
Audits are meaningless if their findings are not acted upon. Recommendations are worthless if they are not implemented. The DGCA must not only identify problems but ensure they are fixed, and verify that the fixes are working.
Building Public Trust
Public trust in aviation safety is fragile. Every crash erodes confidence, not just in the airline involved but in the entire system. Passengers need to know that when they board a flight, the regulator has done its job, the airline has done its job, and the pilot has the authority to make safety decisions without fear.
The DGCA’s public safety ranking mechanism is a step in the right direction. Transparency about which operators are safe and which are not empowers consumers and creates market pressure for improvement.
Conclusion: A Systemic Approach
The recent crashes are a wake-up call. India’s aviation sector has grown rapidly, but safety systems must keep pace. Blaming pilots is easy; fixing systems is hard. But it is the only approach that will prevent future tragedies.
The DGCA’s focus on systemic accountability is welcome. But it must be backed by resources, political will, and sustained attention. Safety cannot be a priority only after a crash; it must be built into every aspect of operations, every day.
Twelve people are dead. Their families deserve answers. But more than answers, they deserve to know that their loved ones did not die in vain—that their deaths will lead to changes that save others.
Q&A: Unpacking India’s Aviation Safety Challenge
Q1: What recent crashes have prompted the DGCA’s action?
Two fatal crashes within a month: a Beechcraft C90 air ambulance in Jharkhand killed seven; a Learjet 45 crash killed five, including Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. A Pawan Hans helicopter crashed into the sea in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but all seven on board survived. Twelve lives lost in total.
Q2: What is the DGCA’s response?
The DGCA has announced intensive audits, random Cockpit Voice Recorder checks, cross-verification of flight data, and a public safety ranking mechanism. The focus is on systemic accountability rather than blaming individual pilots, recognising that safety lapses often reflect organisational failures.
Q3: Why is blaming pilots insufficient?
Pilots are the last line of defence, not the first. Aviation safety involves maintenance, crew resource management, weather assessment, and adherence to SOPs. When decade-long data points to systemic issues like non-adherence to SOPs, inadequate planning, and training gaps, penalising individuals does not correct flawed organisational priorities.
Q4: What is the significance of the Pilot-in-Command’s authority?
The DGCA has reaffirmed that a pilot’s decision to divert or cancel a flight must be final and free from commercial pressure. In a sector with charter commitments and VIP movements, pilots must never be pressured to fly in unsafe conditions. This authority is essential for safety.
Q5: What determines whether the corrective measures will succeed?
Effective enforcement and sustained follow-through after audits. Audits are meaningless if findings are not acted upon. The DGCA must ensure safety always takes precedence over revenue. Public trust depends on transparency and demonstrated improvement, not just regulatory announcements.
