Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India)

Directorate General of Civil Aviation
Directorate General of Civil Aviation
नागर विमानन महानिदेशालय
	Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India
Agency overview
Headquarters	New Delhi, India; 28°34′58.56″N 77°12′47.12″E / 28.5829333°N 77.2130889°E
Minister responsible	Ajit Singh, Minister of Civil Aviation
Agency executive	Arun Mishra, Director General
Child agencies	Airports Authority of India; Air India; Pawan Hans
Website
	Official website

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the Indian governmental regulatory body for civil aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This directorate investigates aviation accidents and incidents.^[1] It is headquartered along Sri Aurobindo Marg, opposite Safdarjung Airport, in New Delhi.^[2] The Government of India is planning to replace the organisation with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), modelled on the lines of the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).^[3]

Vision [edit]

Endeavour to promote safe and efficient Air Transportation through regulation and proactive safety oversight system.^[4]

Departments [edit]

These are classified and divided into the following:

Administration Directorate.
Aerodrome Standards Directorate.
Air Safety Directorate.
Air Transport Directorate.
Airworthiness Directorate.
Flight Standard Directorate.
Information & Regulation Directorate.
Aircraft Engineering Directorate.
Directorate Of Flight Crew Licensing.
Training Section.
F.G. Section.
Medical Section.

Regional offices [edit]

DGCA has fourteen Regional Airworthiness Offices (RAO) at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Kanpur, Guwahati and Patiala. It has also five Regional Air Safety offices located at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. It has a Regional Research and Development Office located at Bangalore and a Gliding Centre at Pune.^[5]

Corruption charges in Fake license scam [edit]

The Director General of Civil Aviation faced charges of corruption in April 2011, after 14 pilots flying for several airlines were found to have forged their licenses. Additional director at the DGCA,^[6] Pradeep Kumar, and also Jyoti Bhattacharya and Mohammed K Ansari, dealing with cash and finances,^[7] have been arrested.^[8] However, it was found that the files containing the records of several pilots had disappeared from the DGCA offices.^[9] There were calls for a thorough investigation of the DGCA "top brass".^[10] E K Bharat Bhushan who took over as DGCA from Syed Ahmed Zaidi in December 2010 was dismissed with immediate effect by the Government, six days after his services were extended till year end. No reasons were spelt out for the dismissal.^[11] The charge of DGCA has been handed over to Prashant Sukul, temporarily.^[12] Sources, however, ascribed sudden removal of Bharat Bhushan to serious difference of opinion with the Civil Aviation Ministry over import of old aircraft and renewal of licences of non-scheduled operators. ^[13]

Civil Aviation Authority [edit]

The CAA has been envisaged as an autonomous regulatory body which will replace the DGCA and will meet standards set by the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The CAA will have separate departments to deal with safety, economic regulation and grievance resolution, as well as a full-fledged environment department. It will also have an independent accident investigation bureau. The Authority will also have the autonomy to recruit staff. Currently, the DGCA is understaffed and does not have any recruitment powers. The CAA will have administrative and financial powers similar to those of the American FAA. These powers will redefine the regulator's role and better equip it to face the challenges of the growing Aviation sector in the country. Employees working with DGCA will be transferred to the CAA.^[3]

The estimated cost of establishing the new Authority would be around Rs. 112 crore. The CAA would be self-financing and have a separate fund called the 'Civil Aviation Authority of India Fund' that would finance its entire expenses. It would have a Chairperson, a Director General and 7-9 members appointed by the Central Government. These members will be qualified in the fields of aviation safety, aircraft engineering, flight standard operations, aerodromes, air navigation systems and air space management.^[14]