Only God can save the Civil Aviation Ministry

While the storm of scams confronting Jet Airways and Ministry of Civil Aviation had not subsided, a new tornado has gained traction. Earlier 131 pilots of Jet Airways were fiddling with the lives of passengers by flying planes without the requisite pilot proficiency check (PPC). The RTI filed by Kalchakra News Bureau led to this expose. These pilots were grounded and suspended with mere warning. This is not the lone matter in which the unholy nexus between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and its subordinate Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) with that of private airlines has come to the fore. Whether it’s the integrity of pilot proficiency checks or the grant of licenses to fly, the entire spectrum is smeared with irregularities & profound aberrations. The senior officials of the ministry seem to be turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to this entire escapade. Any recommendation coming from the top bosses of the private airlines, is considered a dictum which has to be heeded by all means. It’s but obvious that nobody shall extend such out of turn favors without getting a bounty of personal gains.

The case of Ms. Parul Sachdev is quite striking to bring home the aforesaid state of affairs. Ms. Sachdev presented her educational credentials from a Board of Education which was not recognized by the Government. She passed off the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for Central Board of Higher Education (CBHE) to obtain the pilot’s license and went on to fly for years. This poses severe questions on the probity & process of scrutiny & validation of documents on part of the learned officials of the Ministry and its associated departments.

This matter too came to light as an eventual outcome of a RTI application filed by Kalchakra News Bureau seeking the PPC of pilots of private airlines. This forced the Ministry to conduct an audit of the licenses of the pilots of various airlines. This precipitated half-baked and incomplete action against Ms. Sachdev as well. Instead of getting her license revoked and getting a case of forgery filed under relevant section of IPC, Sh. R N Choubey, the current Civil Aviation Secretary in his order dated September 16th, 2016 mandated for a suspension for 2 years instead of 5 years as prescribed under rule 39(1) of the Civil Aviation Rules 1937. He went on to suggest that Ms. Sachdev can get her papers in proper shape in these 2 years of suspension.  

What a mockery of the entire set of the laid down procedures of probity? When you can’t establish even your basic qualifications, how can you be issued a license in the first place? How can your certificates issued from non-recognized bodies be accepted as bonafides? If not, isn’t the revocation of the license issued, the best course of natural justice.

You may recall the Mangalore tragedy whereby the plane went off the airstrip while landing. Why did that accident happened at all? If you pay heed to the pilots, they would say that landing at Mangalore is no mean task. It requires precision of the highest order which only an alert & duly energised pilot can manage. This is the very reason that pilots under a state of exhaustion and fatigue are not allowed to fly. But it seems that for Jet Airways, complying with this rule has not much value as well. As per DGCA rules, every pilot has to undergo a compulsory rest of 12 hours before undertaking a flight where the time zone difference between the departure and destination is less than 3 hours (as is the case with Hong Kong).

A senior pilot as well as an examiner of Jet Airways Manoj Mahna set out a distinctive record of flouting the aforesaid rule on September 3^rd, 2015. He flew as an additional crew member on the 8 am flight from Mumbai - Delhi, attended a number of meetings and returned back to Mumbai from Delhi by the 5 pm flight in the same fashion as an additional crew member. On the night of the same day he took off the late night 1.20 am flight from Mumbai to Hong Kong as a captain which landed at 9.40 am (IST) at Hong Kong. This was a gross violation of DGCA rules of undertaking adequate rest before taking off a commercial flight.

When Kalchakra News Bureau took up this case, every official worth his credence found Captain Mahna guilty and recommended for the most severe of the action. It’s not that Captain Mahna broke the rule book for the first time. He was found guilty of the same offence in 2006 as well.

Section 7 of the Civil Aviation Rules and the Indian Aircraft Act, 1934 call for a punishment of 2 years and a fine of Rs. 10 lakhs for this gross violation. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Civil Aviation in its order dated March 1st 2016 extended a suspension of only 1 year instead of 2 which was later on reduced to a mere 6 months complying with injunctions issued from Jet Airways, which is known to run the writ at this important ministry.

In yet another case of murky nexus of Ministry of Civil Aviation officials with private interests is that of the GVK group which operates a major airport in the country. The existing Secretary of the Ministry has went out of the way to give a clearance to the GVK group which has serious implications to national security. Whether it’s a private airlines or a private airport operator, it’s senior officials need to undergo a mandatory security clearance from the Home Ministry.

For instance, when Kalchakra News Bureau exposed the non-compliance of security clearance of Captain Hamid Ali, Jet Airways had to remove Captain Ali from the post of its CEO/COO at once. This flouting of security clearance from Home Ministry is going on in the case GVK Group’s Board of Directors as well. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is overlooking the same and is extending out of the way benefits to the group.

Why is it that the current Civil Aviation Secretary Sh. R N Choubey is flouting all laid down norms and protocols to extend out of the way benefits to private airlines or other private operators in the domain of Civil Aviation?

At a time when air travel has expanded by multitudes, the responsibility of the Ministry of Civil Aviation has increased all the more. Instead of flouting the well thought out norms of safety & security, the Ministry needs to implement them in letter and spirit. The passengers would otherwise be left out with no option but to travel with faith in the Lord alone.