Near Misses in Indian Skies

In the month of March alone the Indian DGCA removed accreditation from 20 foreign pilots and sent them packing for their inability to communicate clearly in English. It's one method by which the Indian air regulator is attacking the high incidence of near-collisions. However communications difficulties don't lie at the core of the problem. The Indian Air Traffic Control system is outmoded and lacks the sophistication of its Western counterparts. Indian ATC does not decree speeds for aircraft on approach so spacing tends to be very variable as aircraft have different turn radii and turn rates. In addition the incidence of pilots climbing or descending without clearing their actions with ATC has increased. "Level busts", as they are known within the pilot fraternity, tend to decrease confidence and increase the natural hazard levels. Organized holding within established holding patterns is frequently dispensed with and aircraft are simply delayed or spaced by an instruction to "carry out an orbit in present position". The monthly average for aircraft near-misses has risen to two. Most incidents are between domestic and international flights. The next highest offender is the Indian Air Force. Indian Airlines and Korean air had a close encounter at Flight Level 330 over Nagpur on 08 March. The aircrafts' own last-ditch collision avoidance systems (TCAS) intervened to avoid a deadly clash. This overall randomness within the Indian ATC system is being blamed upon controller shortages. Experienced air traffic controllers are becoming a scarce commodity world wide. The job is notorious for a high risk of recrimination, elevated stress and early burn-out, so applications for training in the role are trending down. In consequence there were five more near-collisions involving avoidance action in 2006 than the 21 reported in 2005. So far the 2007 trend remains upwards.