'IA, Jet Airways to blame for airmiss'

By T.S. Shankar

CHENNAI, DEC. 15. The Director General of Civil Aviation, Mr. H.S. Khola, who commenced the probe into the airmiss involving a Jet Airways Boeing-737 and an Indian Airlines Airbus-320 about 80-85 nautical miles from Chennai airport on December 1, today found fault with both domestic carriers.

``There was a safety lapse on both sides'', he said. ``Indian Airlines was more to blame.''

Immediately after examining the decoded tape transcript of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, Mr. Khola, suspended the command licences and examiner approval status of the two commanders.

``The IA commander had left the flight level and come quite low. He did not follow the procedure of reporting it to the ATC and the DGCA. On the other hand, although the Jet Airways pilot maintained the flight level, he also did not report the incident either to the airline concerned or to the DGCA'', Mr. Khola told The Hindu.

The Director-General of the apex regulatory body who grilled the cockpit crew members of both airlines, besides visiting the vintage Air Traffic Control Tower, said, ``We have played the ATC tapes pertaining to this incident and examined in detail the digital data recording. We have seen the radar screen also. And we have now found that the aircraft were separated at a reasonable distance and there was no chance of collision. That, we have seen very clearly. But, at the same time there was definitely a situation which was not in accordance with the laid down DGCA procedures'', he pointed out.

On the decision to come down heavily on the erring pilots, Mr. Khola explained that ``Indian Airlines has also taken the commander off. I have also suspended the commander's licence and withdrawn his examiner approval on Airbus-320 planes. And the Jet Airways pilot's examiner approval has also been withdrawn and his command endorsement suspended pending investigation''.

When his attention was drawn to the mid-air safety lapse even after clear-cut instructions radioed to both pilots by the area controller of Chennai airport with regard to maintenance of flight levels, Mr. Khola said the ``correlation of the digital flight data recordings data were yet to be completed. We know the figures of the flight level violations. But, very precise correlation of this exact violation by the IA pilot would be done in New Delhi, covering the entire profile and pattern of these two flights in question''.

Going by the circumstances in which this particular mid-air safety lapse was brought to light only after the co-pilot of the IA aircraft reported the incident to the higher-ups, Mr. Khola said ``that is why we have taken such serious action by going to the extent of suspending the licences''.

Mr. Khola noted that ``this action would send a strong message across the fraternity of operating line pilots that if they tried to hide facts, then we would initiate more serious action''.

Referring to the recent ``heavy landing'' incident at the Mangalore airport involving another Jet Airways plane and the subsequent action initiated by the DGCA, Mr. Khola said, `` We have suspended the licence of both the pilot and the co-pilot''.

``I would like to make one point very clear. They have to adhere strictly to the laid down DGCA procedures. And if they fail to follow it, not only serious action will be initiated against them but they would be paying a heavy price for the serious safety lapse'', Mr. Khola said.

Elaborating on the efforts of the DGCA to enhance flight safety, he said steps have already been taken to assist the pilots and air traffic controllers by introducing modern technology. ``And that is why all aircraft including radars were equipped with latest safety devices which are required as per the ICAO standards'' , he added.

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