Urgent Need for Aviation Sector Reform in India

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released a preliminary report on the June 12, 2025, Air India Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad, which remains inconclusive, raising concerns over aviation safety oversight and regulatory failures in India.

Regulatory and Operational Deficiencies

• Erosion of Regulatory Oversight: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), has shown limited internal technical capabilities, relying excessively on foreign regulators, as witnessed in the Pratt & Whitney engine failure (2017–18).
• Pilot and Crew Exploitation: Airlines routinely violate Flight Time Duty Limitations (FTDLs), while DGCA issues exemptions. Fatigued pilots operate under coercive employment contracts, and cabin crew safety roles are undervalued, compromising in-flight security.
• Airport Infrastructure and Airspace Violations: Since 2008, the government bypassed statutory protections, allowing unauthorised construction near airports, such as in Mumbai, increasing physical and radar interference risks. New airports like Navi Mumbai face similar threats due to misplaced NOC policies.

Judicial Oversight and Legal Loopholes

• Judicial Interventions in Safety: The judiciary played a critical role in preventing high-risk developments, as in the 2016 Bombay High Court stay that indirectly prevented additional casualties during the 2018 Ghatkopar crash.
• Statutory Dilution and Conflicted Committees: The 2015 Rules gave statutory recognition to appellate committees that had already permitted unsafe construction. These panels are staffed by officials responsible for safety enforcement, creating conflict of interest.
• Neglect of PILs and Accountability Gaps: Despite multiple PILs highlighting Inner Horizontal Surface (IHS) violations and radar obstructions, authorities including DGCA and AAI failed to act transparently, allowing obstacle proliferation from 125 (2010) to over 1,000 (2025).

Systemic Culture of Neglect and the Way Forward

• Absence of Safety Culture: Indian aviation lacks a comprehensive safety culture, as systemic violations persist despite existing knowledge of risks. The Swiss cheese model illustrates how multiple aligned failures lead to fatal accidents.
• Whistle-blower Suppression: Internal dissent is discouraged; whistle-blowers reporting safety violations face transfers, demotions, or termination, further entrenching non-compliance within airlines and AAI.
• Need for Immediate Reform: The entire ecosystem — aircraft design, maintenance, crew welfare, air traffic management — requires urgent regulatory, judicial, and policy overhaul. Without reform, future disasters are imminent.

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