The Centre has started work on a “comprehensive national civil aviation safety plan” that will bring key changes to the industry’s current standard operating procedures (SOPs), sources told businessline.

At present, India under ICAO’s guidance has made a National Aviation Safety Plan (NASP) 2024-28. However, the new comprehensive plan, sources said, go beyond the NASP and will also be a part of the National Civil Aviation Policy.

Accordingly, the plan will have a relook at nearly all aspects of safety, right from airport entry to the design of aerodromes, among others.

Notably, the safety plan comes days after the devastating crash of Air India’s Ahmedabad-Gatwick flight.

Besides, sources cited the necessity of such a plan was “felt in light of the massive growth” of the sector in terms of passenger numbers, airports and aircraft.

“Since 2017, there have been accidents, and committees have been formed after each incident. These committees’ findings and recommendations, along with safety experts’ advice on the design of airports, aircraft, SOPs, maintenance checks, etc., will be taken into consideration while forming the plan,” sources told businessline.

experts called

“We will be calling in experts from institutes like IIT, from the industry, and other stakeholders who might have valuable insights into how to reform our current systems so that safety becomes the core of India’s growth in civil aviation.”

As per sources, many aspects, such as the development of soft landing areas near airports, passenger entry and exit procedures, maintenance, the role of security agencies and the function of training institutes, will be reviewed and revised.

“The first step in the formulation of this plan is the high-level multidisciplinary committee (on the Ahmedabad air crash), which has been formed to look at safety issues on a holistic basis.

The recommendations of this committee and from other experts or institutions will then be used to war game emergency scenarios to further refine our SOPs and have absolute coordination between all levels of aviation agencies, regulators and stakeholders.” “India has some of the world’s best regulations in place. However, we want to strengthen them further so that India becomes the powerhouse of the global aviation industry.”

Besides, sources said the new plan will tackle issues such as manpower deployment for aircraft inspections and accident investigations.

“The plan will be futuristic in nature because it will deal with not just today’s requirements but also those in the coming years. We need to act now to fulfil the expected demand and need for safe operations,” sources said.

“Aspects such as manpower requirements and the need for equipment will be taken care of by this document (plan).”

Panel to meet on Monday

Meanwhile, the Centre’s high-level committee is slated to meet on Monday.

Last week, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the Centre has constituted the committee, which is headed by the Home Secretary, to examine the Ahmedabad crash in detail. In addition, the committee will include aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisors as it deems fit.

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Published on June 15, 2025