In The Times of India
Govt move to put pilot rest rules in abeyance draws flak
4 Jun 2008, 0000 hrs IST,Manju V,TNN
MUMBAI: Aviation experts and pilots have questioned the wisdom of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) move to put the rest rules for pilots in abeyance.
What was the hurry to put the new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) regulations, being followed in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, for review?
DGCA introduced the new FDTL last year as a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) and made it mandatory for airlines.
"The hurried decision to withdraw the CAR without adequate notification appears to be unprecedented and weighted by commercial requirements," the letter written by the Airline Pilots' Associations of India to the International Civil Aviation Organisation and international pilots' insurance companies says.
"The draft of a proposed CAR has to be circulated to all persons likely to be affected, for their objections and suggestions, whenever a new CAR is mooted. Other norms state that revision notices should be issued prior. No such procedure was followed in the case," the letter says.
What experts have found more intriguing is the fact that DGCA constituted a committee to review CAR to recommend amendments under several terms of reference. One of them was to "keep in view the availability of pilots and their optimum utilization".
A commander said: "Commercial reasons like the induction of more aircraft and pilot shortage cannot be cited as justifiable reasons to reduce rest hours of flight crew. Shortage of experienced flight crew in the country is due to poor management of available resources."
The other point of contention is that DGCA has not revealed the identity of the members in the committee.
"Up to 30% of accidents worldwide are caused by fatigue leading to human error. So it is a matter of public interest and the names, designations and qualifications of the members who will review FDTL should be made public," the pilots' letter says.
Incidentally, between 1988 and 1990, the DGCA constituted a committee under then director P C Sen to evaluate crew fatigue. The study group acknowledged that "the study of crew fatigue is specialised in nature and is best left to aviation medical specialists only".
"Airlines have to get 20% more pilots to follow the new FDTL rules and so they have been trying to get some of the rules in the old FDTL incorporated into the new one," a commander said. The old FDTL also did not take into account increase in retirement age of pilots to 65, the reduction in the number of flight deck crew, new equipment, the introduction of ultra long-range operations and various operational changes.