NEW DELHI: The Civil Aviation Ministry is deliberating on issuing a security advisory to all airlines in light of the cockpit incident that took place on the Flydubai plane on September 30, said a senior official.
Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said that internal deliberations are on about issuing a security advisory. “In case any advisory is to be issued, we will put it up with our higher authorities for taking a decision on the matter,” he said.
Referring to the Flydubai incident, Sinha added, “This is an unfortunate incident. The nation is very proud of the fact that Captain Smit, an Indian, was able to save so many lives. We would not like to delve much into it, as it pertains to some other country.”
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has also announced security measures for airports. It said that from this month, the aerodrome entry permits for the roughly 15 lakh applicants annually would go fully digital and will be backed by a facial biometric system. This is an official permit that authorises an eligible person to enter designated areas of an aerodrome.
Director general of BCAS, Rajesh Nirwan, said that the agency was nearing the rollout of its ambitious aerodrome entry project. “The entry permits are now touching 15 lakh every year across all airports, making it difficult to process and monitor these applications in a manual format,” he said. It would be contactless and paperless and eliminate the need for an individual to visit the BCAS office. “It will be rolled out simultaneously across all the 169 airports in the country,” he added.
An end-to-end digital process was being proposed for entry into the airport. “This will increase transparency, as each applicant will know the status of their application. It will enable centralised monitoring and show why an application is kept pending for a long time. It will improve control and compliance,” he explained.