In a dazzling turnaround for aviation safety, air travel across India in 2023 has emerged as markedly safer compared to the two previous years. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) unveiled its Annual Safety Review for 2023 on Wednesday, showcasing a triumphant leap in air safety metrics. According to the DGCA’s latest report, the perilous instances of airprox—where aircraft breach the critical minimum separation standards—plummeted by an impressive 25% per million flights over Indian airspace. This dramatic reduction not only surpassed previous years' figures but also met the safety target for 2023.

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The statistics are even more striking when it comes to Ground Proximity Warning Systems (GPWS/EGPWS), with warnings declining by a staggering 92% per 10,000 departures, reflecting a substantial decrease in the risk of controlled flight into terrain.

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Furthermore, the frequency of unstabilized approaches—which previously posed significant risks of runway excursions and abnormal runway contact—has exhibited a consistent downward trend, diminishing by approximately 23% per 10,000 approaches.

This reduction underscores a pivotal enhancement in the safety protocols surrounding aircraft landings.

The DGCA’s Annual Safety Review-2023 not only highlights these remarkable achievements but also reaffirms the efficacy of the national aviation safety strategy.

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As stated, “DGCA publishes the ‘national aviation safety plan’ (NASP) identifying the national - high-risk categories of occurrences (N-HRCs) in line with ICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP). The performance of NASP in terms of safety performance indicators (SPI) and safety performance targets is assessed annually and published in the form of Annual Safety Review (ASR). It presents the analysis of the aggregate safety data derived from the DGCA database and external sources such as ICAO iSTARS for the preceding year. This data-driven approach ensures a firm embedding of the safety culture in the aviation growth trajectory and provides a robust process to identify emerging safety issues and continually refine existing procedures.”

In essence, 2023 has heralded a new era of aviation safety in India, reflecting a sophisticated and data-driven approach to mitigating risks and enhancing the safety of skies over the subcontinent.