Government approves amendment to Aircraft Act, 1934
02 August 2007
The Government has approved a number of proposed amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1934, which would give it necessary powers to:
- Exercise supervisory control on the standards of airport and communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) / air traffic management (ATM) facilities
- License personnel engaged in ATC
- Frame rules to ensure civil aviation security
- Ensure that the safety oversight functions are performed effectively by the DGCA.
- The government says the enhancement in the quantum of penalties for violation of the Act is likely to have the desired deterrent effect and hence would go a long in raising the compliance level.
- Update the Aircraft Act 1934
The central government exercises control on the manufacture possession, use, operation, sale etc. of civil aircraft through the provisions of the Aircraft Act, 1934.
Some of the proposed amendments are-
Regulation of foreign registered aircraft: The Act does not have an explicit provision for extending its applicability to foreign registered aircrafts which may be for the time being in or over India. In order to remove this anomaly, the Act is to be amended so as to exercise regulatory control on foreign registered aircrafts operating in or over India.
Inclusion of the term 'incident' along with 'accident': The International Convention on Civil Aviation makes a distinction between the terms 'accident' and 'incident' happening to an aircraft. 'Accident' is when a person is fatally or seriously injured during a flight or the aircraft sustains substantial damage or structural failure or the aircraft is missing or completely inaccessible. An 'incident' is when an occurrence other than 'accident' associated with the operation of aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of the operation. Now the term 'incident' along with 'accident' will be included in the Act.
Supervisory control over ATM standards / ATC personnel: For discharging its basic responsibility of ensuring air safety, the Government needs to exercise supervisory control on technical standard of the airport and its ground based CNS/ATM facilities. The Government should also have the power to grant licenses to personnel engaged in ATC in order to maintain desired standards and level of proficiency. The Act is being amended to give the government these necessary powers to:
- License of personnel engaged in ATC
- Inspect, certify and regulate CNS/ATM facilities
Civil Aviation security: To cover the security aspects of aircraft operations, which can come under threat due to unlawful act of interference the government, will strengthen Act to safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference and ensure civil aviation security.
