Aviation safety too cause for worry in 2018, says latest report

A serious incident is defined as an occurrence where there is a high probability of an accident associated with operation of aircraft. There were 0.14 serious incidents per 10,000 departures.

For representational purposes (File | PTI)

NEW DELHI: The aviation regulator’s report on serious incidents has disclosed that the rate of such incidents has gone up in the country’s aviation sector this year.

A serious incident is defined as an occurrence where there is a high probability of an accident associated with operation of aircraft. There were 0.14 serious incidents per 10,000 departures during 2014.

The figure was 0.6 in 2015, 0.12 in 2017 and again reached 0.14. As per the DGCA’s internal audit report, the rate of accident per million departures in India stood at 0.9 till November 2018, against a world average of 1.9.

Similarly, cases of mishap related to operations of aircraft fell to 4.71 incidents per 10,000 departures in 2018 (until Nov.) against 6.56 incidents per 10,000 departures in 2017.

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Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday said that the Indian aviation sector had maintained the highest safety audit rating in 2018 from global auditors International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Two important safety audits conducted by ICAO and FAA have given the highest possible safety audit standards followed by the aviation sector,” said Suresh Prabhu, Union minister for civil aviation. India has been, provisionally, given 74 per cent marks by ICAO.