AI flight with 242 on board crashes in Ahmedabad

Context

• An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed shortly after take-off on Thursday afternoon.

• A towering plume of smoke was visible from afar following a massive explosion after the aircraft plummeted into a medical college hostel five kilometres from the airport as students were gathered for lunch.

• According to Air India, of the 230 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 British, and seven Portuguese. One was Canadian. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among the dead.

• Thursday’s crash is the first involving a variant of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner series.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

• The DGCA is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

• The DGCA is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation and primarily deals with safety issues.

• The DGCA is responsible for regulating air transport services to/from/within India.

• The regulatory body is also responsible for the enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards.

• It also coordinates all regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

• The DGCA headquarters are located in New Delhi with regional offices in various parts of India.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

• ICAO is a United Nations (UN) specialized agency, established in 1944, which laid the foundation for the standards and procedures for peaceful global air navigation.

• The Convention on International Civil Aviation was signed on 7th December 1944 in Chicago (hence called Chicago Convention 1944).

• It covers a wide range of issues, including the rights of aircraft in international airspace, the registration of aircraft, safety standards, air traffic control, and environmental protection.

• One of the objectives of ICAO is to foster the planning and development of international air transport so as to ensure the safe and orderly growth of international civil aviation throughout the world.

• India is among its 193 members.

• It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.