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Implement child restraint system: DGCA
All airlines operating in India will have to provide for a child restraint system in aircraft to protect infants and children, the DGCA instructed on Sunday, following recommendations of an expert panel that looked into the crash of an Air India Express flight in Kerala’s Kozhikode in August 2020.
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All airlines operating in India will have to provide for a child restraint system in aircraft to protect infants and children, the civil aviation watchdog instructed on Sunday, following recommendations of an expert panel that looked into the crash of an Air India Express flight in Kerala’s Kozhikode in August 2020.
“It is not possible for a parent to physically restrain an infant or child, especially during a sudden acceleration or deceleration, unanticipated or severe turbulence, or impact,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement. “The safest way to secure an infant or child on board an aircraft is a CRS, in a dedicated seat, appropriate for that infant or child.”
The restraint for children is a combination of a harness and safety belt that can be secured to an aircraft seat. The regulator said proper use of these restraints is a crucial factor in surviving accidents.
The airline firms will have to develop a standard operating procedure as well as guidelines to manage the change through their safety management systems to allow and enable the use of child restraint systems on board their aircraft, the directorate said.
“The airlines may also make available on their websites the width of the narrowest and widest passenger seats in each class of service for each make, model, and series of airplane used in passenger-carrying operations and prohibit the use of certain types of CRS during ground movement, take-off, and landing., etc,,” its circular read.
An Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kozhikode with 190 people on board landed in extreme weather conditions on August 7, 2020, after aborting two attempts and overshooting the runway in its third attempt. The crash broke the plane into two and led to the death of 20 passengers, besides injuring several others.
