Indian flight safety going downhill - ATC may be the culprit - Curt Lewis

Flight risk: 2016 most unsafe year for Indian aviation, 40% spike in near-miss cases

Experts say that recent initiatives to boost the aviation sector will only weaken air safety standards, beset at present by a shortage of manpower, training and airspace for civilian traffic.

There have been 32 cases of 'near miss' in 2016, highest for any year in the history of the country's civil aviation.(AFP File Photo)

On August 22 last year, an air traffic controller saw Indigo flight IGO258 and Air India's AIC995 approaching the same altitude over New Delhi. Flight AIC995 was asked to turn left to avoid a collision, but that put the plane on the path of another Indigo aircraft, IGO528.

It was a close shave, and in the end the three flights landed safely after the AI plane again made changes to its altitude, a source at the civil aviation ministry told HT.

The incident was among 32 cases of 'near miss' in 2016, highest for any year in the history of the country's civil aviation, according to government data obtained by HT through the Right to Information law. The year beat the previous maximum seen in 2013 by 40%.

Experts say that recent initiatives to boost the aviation sector will only weaken air safety standards, beset at present by a shortage of manpower, training and airspace for civilian traffic.

"While safety requires maximum separation, increasing traffic has brought aircraft closer to each other's boundaries, so the chances of transgression are high," said SS Singh, a retired executive director of air traffic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off last week a scheme to make flying cheaper, aiming to put air travel in reach for the country's middle class with more flights to smaller towns.

The year also saw the highest number - 151 - of pilots being suspended for violating safety protocols, a 38% increase from the previous high of 109 suspensions in 2012.

A majority of them were found to have consumed too much alcohol in either pre- or post-flight medical checks.

HT had, on the basis of figures for the 2016 January-May period, reported in August that the year was shaping up to be the worst in terms of air safety.

Indiscipline and attitude issues were found as major reasons for pilots violating protocol.

But a bulk of last year's mid-air scares, 22 of 32, were due to errors by the air traffic control (ATC).