Indian Air Force Probes Safety

The Indian Air Force will hold its second International Flight Safety Conference---IFSCON 2007---in New Delhi on October 9-10 at the Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park. The conference will address global aviation safety issues. Around 60 foreign delegates from 30 countries and delegates from a host of national aviation organizations are expected to attend. The number of delegate countries has more than doubled from the inaugural conference held last year. Also attending will be representatives of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Border Security Force, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Airports Authority of India, Indian Airlines, private airline operators and a number of other bodies associated with aircraft research and development, certification and quality assurance. The event includes presentations and panel discussions on aviation safety subjects of universal interest, including accident investigation & safety management and human factors. The conference will support adoption of new concepts and methodologies of accident prevention and significantly shorten the learning curve for induction of modern safety schemes. Aviation activity in South Asia is seeing a dramatic growth, both in military and civil aviation. The scale of induction of modern aircraft is unprecedented in numbers, technology, capability and cost. This growth in aviation requires support both through infrastructure development and trained manpower. Modernization and rapid growth bring with them numerous challenges related to safe operations. Information sharing among operators becomes crucial, as timely information flow on the cause of aircraft accidents can be instrumental in averting accidents from occurring elsewhere. Organizations operating similar type of aircraft must have a network and protocol to share accident related information. This conference is a step towards promoting such free flow of information and experience to address a global problem.