ICAO discards SpiceJet's claim of safety clearance

Indian budget airline SpiceJet last week claimed that it passed an audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO, however, has clarified that it has not audited any airline in India, as per a TOI report. The ICAO website states that it never audits any airline or airport in any country.

“As part of an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM), ICAO teams conduct industry visits to verify the effectiveness of the civil aviation authority’s safety oversight. This will include visits to multiple operators. ICAO wishes to clarify that visits to these operators are not an audit or inspection at all,” said ICAO in a statement.

ICAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation around the world.

“Operator’’ in this context refers to SpiceJet, the only airline the ICAO team visited when in India from November 9 to 16. What ICAO did was verify the effectiveness of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) safety oversight and in that context it visited SpiceJet office on November 14, said TOI.

“It had nothing whatsoever to do with SpiceJet and its safety standards, however good or bad,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

-B