MUMBAI: If airlines in India were very keen on improving flight safety, by now, they would have implemented the new pilot rest rules that check pilot fatigue . About six months ago, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had set a February 15 deadline for all carriers to implement the new work and rest rules for pilots. The airlines were given this time so that they could draw up their own rules that are within the provisions laid down by the regulator and start implementation on Wednesday.
However, only Spice Jet has honoured the deadline. The airline brought into effect new pilot rest rules on February 1 and is the only airline in India which does not follow the 1992 rest rules. With all other airlines failing to doso, the DGCA, on Tuesday, has now issued a fresh deadline of March 24 for the implementation.
As technical advances make aircraft more and safer, the weak link in flight safety continues to be pilot fatigue.
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Over the last few decades it has been the reason for many air accidents and incidents (incidents are occurrences that did not result in death or substantial damage to aircraft). In 2009, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had asked all its members countries -India is one-to introduce scientifically-backed pilot rest rules, called Flight and Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) in aviation parlance. It takes into account factors like sleep disruption, time zone changes, hours spent in cockpit etc to lay down limits and rules for pilot duty time, like the maximum flying duty allowed in a month, mandatory rest period, restriction on consecutive night operations etc.
"Even the loss of 158 people in the Mangalore air crash due to pilot fatigue has not driven the point home. The airlines' commercial interest seems to outweigh safety in India," said Capt M Ranganathan, member, operations group, Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council. "If six months were not good enough for airlines to work out the modalities another month is not going to help," he added.
Said an aviation source: "The explanation given by some of the airlines was that implementation of new rest rules during the ongoing winter schedule (flight schedule followed by airlines from November to March) will demand significant amendments." In response to that, the DGCA has now asked all airlines get their pilot rest rules approved and make the required changes to their flight timings and pilot rostering practices by March 24 so that the new rules come into force with the start of summer schedule on March 25.
The director-general was not available for comment. Following the ICAO recommendation for scientifically-backed rest rules, the DGCA replaced the 1992 rest rules and issued a new set of guidelines for determining work/rest period for pilots last year.
Though the new DGCA guidelines have been criticized by pilot bodies and unions saying it was not scientifically-based , they are better than the 1992 rules in many aspects. The DGCA had asked all airlines to submit their respective FDTL scheme (framed using the new DGCA guidelines) and get it approved by the regulator before February 15. But airlines in India have been finding it very difficult to implement new pilot rest rules. For one, it would mean recruiting more pilots per aircraft as the rest period given to pilots has to be increased to check fatigue.
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