Laws on Paper, Crashes in Air: The Indian Aviation Safety Paradox

The Act introduced certain important reforms, but the critical gaps still remain especially when it comes to the monitoring of the technology in the real time and maintenance oversight.

Introduction

In the wake of the rising aviation disasters, Indian aviation laws have taken for a ride, especially the recent Air India’s AI 171 Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash that led to deaths of 281 Indian and foreign nationals. In addition, Air India has also cancelled 66 flights of Boeing due to technical issues.¹ Post the disasters, a lot of flights have experienced technical issues with the latest being the Delhi-Goa flight that had to make an emergency landing in Mumbai.² India has also enacted the Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024 (BVA) which took effect from 1 January 2025, replacing the Aircraft Act, 1934.³

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) post the Air India crash has enforced a new framework which would provide proper evaluation of the aircrafts.⁴ The DGCA has also imposed special audits amid getting heavily scrutiny post the Air India AI 171 crash. These audits are in consonance with the international standards that includes the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and National Aviation Safety Plan (NASP). The new framework also includes staff training, integrating data analysis, and ensures better oversight. The research addresses the deficiencies and key issues in the monitoring and maintenance oversights in order to reduce further accidents in the future.

The Act introduced certain important reforms, but the critical gaps still remain especially when it comes to the monitoring of the technology in the real time and maintenance oversight. The research aims to compare India’s aviation framework to the frameworks of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Key changes brought by the BVA:

1. The Act broadened the scope for regulators to regulate the emerging technologies such as the drones, air taxis, eVTOLs.⁵

2. The scope for regulation has included design, manufacturing and maintenance.

3. The Act has created regulations for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector of the aircraft.

4. Centralised Radio Telephone Operator Restricted Certificate (RTORC) licensing has reduced the procedural burdens that used to be faced by the aviation personnel and they can obtain certificates from one authority only.

5. A second tier of appellate mechanism has been introduced under the Act, prior to the it the adjudicating officer decisions could be appealed before an appellate officer that was appointed by the Central Government but now the new Act has introduced the post of second appellate officer that would be appointed by the Central Government and would hear the appeals against the decisions taken by the first adjudicating officer.

6. Under the new Act, the orders taken by DGCA as well as the Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCA) can be appealed only to the Central Government.

7. Presently the Central Government has the power to regulate the prices of the flight tickets through the DGCA and under Rule 135, Aircraft Rules, 1937 the airlines have to inform before deciding any fare for any route. However, the DGCA Air Transport Circular 2 of 2010 that allowed airlines to change the prices within 24 hours of the flight has now been removed. It is now mandated that the airlines have to inform the price change one month in advance.

8. The Central Government has been given the discretion to regulate the civil and criminal penalties in case of violation of penalties with respect to the design, manufacturing, use, and implementation of international convention.

Problems that still persists

Even though the Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024 (BVA) has introduced many progressive changes to the colonial time laws and takes an ambitious approach to change the aviation industry in India. In the wake of the recent tragedy that took over 281 lives, it is important to figure out the issues with the current regulations.

1. Absence of real-time flight data monitoring: Indian laws currently have not mandated the airlines to install equipment in order to record the real-time flight updates as well the audio of the flights. Due to the same, the regulators or the ground controllers are not able to respond to threats or emergencies or technical faults that happen at the last moment to prevent such tragedies.

2. Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024 (BVA) does not address the lack of centralised Flight Data Monitoring Center which can potentially analyse the stream that comes from the commercial flights.

3. The MRO sector in India has been underdeveloped even though India has the third-largest passenger market globally.⁶ 15—20 per cent of the MRO happens in India and rest are outsourced from providers based outside India.⁷ Even though in the MRO market in India, 50 per cent of the total aviation market is dominated by international service providers, maintenance checks of the aircraft are not updated with the current technologies.

4. The BVA has also failed to incorporate the current technological tools like the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or a sensor-based diagnostic system that can help detect threats and assist the pilots as well as the ground staff in preventing crashes in the future.

5. The DGCA plays a major role in regulating the aviation industry, but it has limited autonomy as it is not an independent regulatory body but rather a department under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA).

6. The latest AI 171 crash also has led to concerns regarding the implementation of the civil aviation requirements which is a tool to ensure the smooth regulation of the safety norms.

7. Modernisation of the aviation industry has presented new set of challenges for the legislations and the regulators. For example, the automated flight control system installed in the Boeing 737 planes had caused a lot of problems during the 2019 Ethiopian crash.⁸

8. Crew fatigue risk management has not been addressed by the current laws adequately. The Act does not mandate any scientific rest and duty limits or have an independent fatigue risk management system (FRMS). The DGCA has still not implemented any FRMS mandatorily and no rules have been implemented in order to prevent fatigue under the FRMS.⁹

Civil aviation law in USA and UK

In order to understand the Indian position in the civil aviation industry, it is imperative to compare its regulatory framework with the safety of the United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom (UK).

USA: The aviation industry is operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)¹⁰, which establishes a set of protocols that ensures detailed maintenance checks and it is mandated that the aircraft has to meet the standards as given under the 49 U.S. Code Section 41110(e). Furthermore, the US carriers also need to have an air carrier certificate¹¹ and operations specifics; these carriers have to go through five stage review which include: 1) pre-application, 2) formal application, 3) document compliance, 4) demonstration and inspection, and 5) certification. The FAA has to evaluate the foreign air aircrafts and ensure that they are compliant with the safety regulations.

UK: The UK’s aviation model grants full autonomy to its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).¹² The CAA operates independently from Government Ministries, allowing unbiased oversight, recruitment flexibility and dedicated funding for safety audits. UK’s regulations emphasise on continuous airworthiness programs and rigorous pre-emptive audits contributing to high ICAO compliance.

Suggestions

The recent aircraft disaster and grounding of the aircraft has created a state of panic among the passengers and the same can potentially impact the future of the civil aviation industry in India, there are certain urgent reforms that is suggested in order to improve the safety and regulatory efficiency of the civil aviation industry in India.

1. The Indian industry needs to incorporate the current technology that are present such as, use of artificial intelligence or a sensor-based diagnostic systems that can prevent future mishaps by detecting and flagging technical failures before the pilots or any ground staff can identify. It can be done by either amending the BVA or can be included by the DGCA in order to enhance the regulation of the flights.

2. Judicial activism in the form of public interest litigations (PILs) and right to information (RTIs) to play an important role in ensuring safety as the courts can intervene and keep a check on the regulation. The PIL in Delhi High Court pointed out a dangerous practice in the commercial airline industry, i.e., paying for “optional safety features” which the lower budget airlines could not afford and were opting out of the same.¹³

3. The DGCA needs to be elevated to be an independent regulatory authority that can be equivalent to the FAA based in the USA and CAA based in UK. Being an independent and statutory regulator, the DGCA can ensure fast response and help in effective enforcement of the safety protocols and standards.

4. The Government needs to incentivise domestic MRO sector through public-private partnerships and ensure skill development programmes.

5. The DGCA needs to ensure that there is strict and rigorous implementation of the civil aviation requirements. The same involves flight safety, technical maintenance and the duty hours of the cabin crew.

6. The DGCA or the MCA can establish a centralised flight data monitoring system, just like the USA, which would analyse the real-time flight data and should use the AI in order to detect threats and ensure the timely and best solution. This would enhance the safety standards and also ensure the safety of the passengers in order to prevent the future disasters.

7. As per the new framework enforced by DGCA, it mandates yearly review of the audits and the same shall be done more frequently, either every four months or every six months. A third party not complying with the regulatory requirements under the ICAO or NASP shall be severely penalised; and in case of repeated violations should be barred from carrying out flights.

Conclusion

While the enactment of the BVA is a progressive step towards enhancing the civil aviation laws in India. The recent Air India disaster has exposed a lot of critical issues with the act and the current implementation of the laws. In the wake of the enhanced technology the modernisation of the civil aviation industry, the MCA and the DGCA needs to incorporate these in order to have enhanced safety of the aircraft. India needs to move towards a more real-time data-driven, AI based and technology integration in the regulation of the commercial aircrafts. These would be help in enhancing the trust of the passengers and help the aviation industry to grow in India.