New Delhi, July 2: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday issued an 'Air Safety Circular' for airlines in wake of the ongoing monsoon season in the country. The 'Air Safety Circular' has a list of instructions and precautionary steps to be followed by airlines while planning flight operations during the monsoon conditions. The regulator said that the airlines must "make available sufficiently experienced crew in the cockpit".

The DGCA issued the 'Air Safety Circular' for airlines in the wake of multiple incidents of planes overshooting runways while operating amidst heavy rains and bad weather conditions. Late on Monday, a Spicejet flight from Jaipur overshot the runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport while landing. This led to the closure of the main runway at the airport which severely disrupted flight operations. Monsoon 2019: Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh to Get Respite From Heat Soon As Showers Likely in Next 72 Hours.

DGCA's Air Safety Circular: List of instructions

  • Stabilised Approach: Emphasis should be laid on conducting a stabilised approach criterion as specified in Operations Circular 3 of 2017. The crew should be encouraged to Go-Around when approach becomes unstabilised or in case of any condition which reduces visual references to enable a safe landing.

  • Awareness of the Aerodrome Lighting System: It must be ensured that the crew is aware of the lighting system available at the airport including the coded lighting system.

  • FDTL Requirements: The crew rostering should factor in the fatigue element associated with the operations during the adverse weather conditions.

  • Dispatch Planning: Dispatch planning should take into consideration the latest weather conditions, available NOTAMs and available alternates to ensure safe operations.

  • Crew Awareness about Take-off and landing Performance: Crew should be well aware of the aircraft limitations and of take-off/ landing performance

    calculations during the adverse weather operations.

  • Total Cockpit Crew flying experience: While adhering to the minimum cockpit experience laid down by DGCA, the operators should carry out their own risk assessment before conducting operations during the adverse weather conditions and make available sufficiently experienced crew in the

    cockpit.

  • Assisted flying should not be permitted.

  • MEL release under All-Weather Operations should be adhered to.

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told PTI that it is probing the incidents of planes overshooting runways. On June 30, another SpiceJet plane from Bhopal veered off the runway at Surat airport due to heavy rainfall and wind. An Air India Express flight veered off the taxiway after landing and got stuck in soft ground at the Mangalore airport on June 30.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2019 08:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).