DGCA Orders Special Safety Audits Of FTOs To Ensure Compliance, Enhance Safety Standards

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a comprehensive Special Safety Audit of all Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) across India on Thursday. The audit aims to thoroughly assess the safety standards, operational procedures, and systemic deficiencies within flying training organisations to ensure the highest levels of safety and compliance.

The audit will be conducted in three phases from September to November, 2024, covering a total of 33 FTOs. Phase 1 of the audit will cover 11 FTOs and will be conducted in September 2024. The last such special audit was conducted in 2022. This initiative follows a series of recent training aircraft incidents that have sparked concerns regarding the compliance of the training organisations with respect to the established aviation regulations and safety protocols.

The special audit will scrutinise each FTO's adherence to DGCA's regulatory standards, including aircraft maintenance, airworthiness, and training operations. This safety audit will be focusing on various facets of an FTO's operations, such as training curriculum, flying training imparted to student pilots, and the overall supervision and assessment mechanisms employed by FTOs to ensure that trainees meet the required standards of proficiency before being certified to fly independently.

The audit, among other aspects, will also take a close look at the operational oversight and maintenance protocols of the aircraft used for training purposes to ensure that all training aircraft are maintained to the highest standards, with no compromises on safety.

A special safety audit aims to enforce corrective measures where necessary, enhancing the overall safety and effectiveness of flight training in India. On August 20, a training aircraft in Jamshedpur went missing after it took off from the Sonari airport.

As per information from the officials, search operations had been launched in the Saraikela district after the training aircraft went missing after it took off from the Sonari airport.

The neighbouring district of Purulia in West Bengal had also been informed and search operations were immediately launched by the Jamshedpur administration.