FAA team begins aviation safety rating audit for DGCA team in India

By Ashoke Raj
New Delhi [India], October 25 : The Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA), the United Nations (UN) body for aviation safety, has initiated an evaluation of the safety rating of India's aviation, along with licensing of personnel and airworthiness of aircraft.
The FAA conducts aviation regulators' adherence to the norms led by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
According to a senior official of the regulatory body in India, a five-member team of FAA is currently in the country for the audit of safety guidelines, including the licensing of personnel and airworthiness.
"The safety audit by FAA is expected to emphasise upon the key areas of issuing licences to personnel involved in this sector as well as aircraft's airworthiness," the top official told ANI.
The official in the know of the matter added that this FAA team consists of domain experts from legal, investigations and safety fields.
According to the government official, this FAA team will be auditing the safety norms in India for over five days.
In 2018, the FAA had raised concerns over regulatory and guidance material by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) but after it was rectified, the UN body had given the highest safety ranking for aviation watchdog in India.
In 2014, the FAA had downgraded India's regulatory oversight to Category-II from Category-I.