Unsafe flights: Strict adherence to SOPs must be the norm

TWO fatal air crashes within a month have forced India’s aviation regulator to confront ground reality: safety lapses cannot always be blamed on pilots. Looking beyond errors at the individual level, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has turned the spotlight on systemic accountability. These mishaps have claimed 12 lives: seven persons were killed when a Beechcraft C90 air ambulance went down in Jharkhand earlier this week; late last month, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was among the five who died in a Learjet 45 crash. Fortunately, five passengers and two crew members had a miraculous escape after a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed into the sea in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Tuesday.

The tragedies have left families devastated, raising troubling questions about oversight and operational judgment. The DGCA’s response — intensive audits, random Cockpit Voice Recorder checks, cross-verification of flight data and a public safety ranking mechanism — reflects a belated reboot on the regulatory front. Aviation safety stands on the pillars of maintenance protocols, crew resource management, weather assessment systems and strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). When accident data over a decade points to non-adherence to SOPs, inadequate planning and training gaps, it’s evident that the problem has not been treated with the seriousness it direly deserves. Penalising a pilot after a crash may be expedient, but it does little to correct flawed organisational priorities.

The DGCA has reaffirmed that a Pilot-in-Command’s decision to divert or cancel a flight must be final and free from commercial pressure. In a sector swamped with charter commitments and VIP movement, this norm should not be given short shrift. Effective enforcement and sustained follow-through after audits will determine whether the corrective measures restore public trust. The DGCA needs to ensure that safety always takes precedence over revenue.