India’s air regulator has started a special safety audit of all India airlines in response to the Air India Express plane crash in Kerala.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) says it has started with SpiceJet and Air India and will audit all carriers.
"It will be a complete FOQA (Flight Operations Quality Assurance) audit," a DGCA official said.
FOQA analyses a wide range of flight operational data.
It was sparked by the crash of a repatriation flight with 190 people onboard which overshot a hill top runway in heavy rain.
It has led to increased scrutiny of ‘table top’ runways and how the added risks of landing at them can be mitigated.
After the crash, which killed 18 people, the DGCA started a separate safety audit of the country’s airports.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Pacific editor
