India, US sign agreement for aviation safety technical assistance

Bolstering their partnership, India and the US have signed an agreement for aviation safety technical assistance. India’s aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and United States Technical Development Agency (USTDA) signed the Grant Agreement for India Aviation Safety Technical Assistance Phase II in New Delhi on February 9.  “Phase II of the current project is aimed at sustaining efforts undertaken during 2014 for restoration of IASA Category 1 status and bringing in more systemic improvements in the area of operation, airworthiness and licensing. It will include components on General Aviation and Business Aviation,” the government said in an official statement. According to the statement, the USTDA will partially fund the assistance and ‘The Wicks Group (TWG)’ will also bear the cost of assistance.  The agreement will aim at improving systems at the DGCA. The Phase I of this collaboration had helped India get back its category I status from the US-based Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). During an International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) audit carried out by the FAA in September 2013 and a review in December 2013, India was downgraded to Category 2 in January 2014. A reassessment and a follow-up visit in March 2015 led to India’s Category 1 status being restored in April 2015.