The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced a 15% increase in its 2025 safety surveillance program, raising the number of checks on aircraft maintenance, pilot standards, and airport safety to 4,630 from 4,027 in 2024. The intensified oversight follows a surge in safety concerns, underscored by the catastrophic Air India Boeing 787-8 crash on June 12, 2025, which killed 260 people shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, marking one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters.

The DGCA’s 2024 performance review revealed alarming trends, with AIRPROX incidents—where aircraft come dangerously close to each other—reaching 2.36 per million flights, exceeding the target of 1.89. The regulator recorded 3,540 safety-related occurrences last year, including 44 airprox incidents, 47 runway incursions, and 2,755 wildlife strikes, with 1,275 cases already logged by May 2025.

“Though incidents triggered by the Traffic Collision Avoidance System were below target levels, elevated AIRPROX may have prompted DGCA to tighten oversight,” a DGCA official noted, emphasizing the need for heightened vigilance to mitigate risks.

The expanded surveillance program aims to address these issues amid ongoing challenges, including nearly half of the DGCA’s technical posts remaining vacant. By prioritizing comprehensive safety checks, the regulator seeks to restore confidence in Indian aviation and prevent future tragedies, ensuring stricter compliance across the industry.

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