Headquarters New Delhi, India | Website Official website | |
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Minister responsible Pashupati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Indian Politician., Minister of Civil Aviation Agency executive B S Bhullar, Director General Child agencies Airports Authority of India
Air India
Pawan Hans | ||
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. It is headquartered along Sri Aurobindo Marg, opposite Safdarjung Airport, in New Delhi. 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).
Contents
Vision
Endeavour to promote safe and efficient Air Transportation through regulation and proactive safety oversight system.
Departments
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.
- D.G. Section.
- Medical Section.
Regional offices
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.
Civil Aviation Authority
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.
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.
Air accident investigation
Previously the DGCA conducted investigations and gave information to the investigations established by the Court of Inquiry and the Committee Inquiry. A separate investigative agency was established to comply with the Standards And Recommended Practices (SARPs) of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Therefore, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was established in 2011.
Aviation security
In January 1978 the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) was established as a department of the DGCA. As a result of the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, on 1 April 1987 the BCAS became an independent agency of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Aircraft Projects
FOI Resignation
13 Flight Operations Inspectors working with the DGCA have tendered their resignation in a week of May 2015 in protest against the aviation regulator's decision to post them away from their homes Delhi to Mumbai and Chennai.