Calcutta, August 12: Indian Airlines and its subsidiary Alliance Air have denied the charge by their pilots union that the two airlines are not following safety norms. Official sources in the national carrier said it was adhering strictly to the safety norms for aircraft and pilots laid down by the directorate-general of civil aviation.

Contesting the charge by the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, airline sources said teams of officers from the DGCA and IA conduct safety audits regularly in all regions. Cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders are monitored regularly and action is taken whenever violations are observed.

Also, pilots are subjected to cockpit resource management courses and the periodical proficiency checks, an airline official said.IA officials said all general managers of operations have been told to adhere to the flight and duty time limitations (FDTL) in respect of the crew. They have also been advised to distribute all flights and hours equally.

The airline has set up regional roster committees manned by ICPA representatives to ensure that FDTL violations do not take place.Under the current average use of the aircraft, it is not possible to exceed the 80 hours flight per month per pilot as agreed in the memorandum of settlement signed with ICPA on January 26, 1996.

The official said that under the Indian Aircraft Act, a pilot can fly a maximum of 125 hours in 30 days. When this is crossed, the pilot has to undergo a fresh medical test. At this average use, there is hardly any chance for violation of FDTL, the airline official claimed.

However, officials admitted that some executive pilots had to fly more hours than line pilots because of operational constraints. The average allocation of flights for all pilots is around 55 hours for the Airbus A320 and around 70 hours for the Airbus A300."There may be cases where executive pilots are flying more than line pilots because of some operational constraints," an IA official said. For example, sometimes special qualifications are required for certain airfields as laid down by the DGCA in aeronautical information circulars (AIC).

Special qualifications are required in short fields and international operations.Contesting the ICPA's charge that there has been an increase in aircraft deficiencies, the official said the DGCA has approved a minimum equipment list (MEL). This lists items or components whose condition does not affect the airworthiness of an aircraft. "The ICPA is confusing the airworthiness issue with the safety issue.

The DGCA has also stipulated the period of time for which the deficiency under MEL is permitted to exist, which is now 48 hours. The safety of the aircraft is never compromised at any stage," the official said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.