NEW DELHI: To keep pace with technological advances and market trends, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has tweaked rules by asking aircraft operators to frame a policy for conduct of routine flight operations in a “no-destination alternative” environment.
A destination alternative is a pre-determined aerodrome at which an aircraft would be able to land should it become either impossible or inadvisable to land at the aerodrome of intended landing due to various factors such an inclement weather, technical problem or fuel shortage.
Civil Aviation Requirements in vogue require that for a flight to be conducted in accordance with the instrument flight rules, at least one destination alternative aerodrome which can be safely used shall be selected and specified in the operational and air traffic service flight plans. There are however, laid down exceptions in certain operational circumstances where a destination alternative is not required.
“In a rapidly changing global economy, the international air transport industry must continuously adapt to new trends and increasingly competitive market conditions. While technological improvements in aviation continue to increase reliability and predictability, economic and environmental concerns will continue to compel operators to use fuel more efficiently,” a circular issued by the DGCA on February 20 states.
“Consequently, all operators, including those leveraging existing technologies and those investing in new technologies to meet operational challenges, should be afforded the opportunity to receive a return on their investments,“ the circular adds, while listing out the guidelines to operate flights with no-destination alternative.
Under the new guidelines, the procedure of no-destination alternative is only applicable for aerodromes with more than one independent runway and where at least one runway should be available with an instrument approach procedure.
The change over time from primary runway to secondary runway should be specified by the airport operator and the aircraft operator should have signed a memorandum of understanding with each aerodrome where they intend to undertake flights with no-destination alternative.
All possible abnormal operating scenarios and contingency plans shall be formulated and discussed at the organisational level and shared with the personnel concerned. All personnel involved shall be trained prior to undertaking flight operations with no-destination alternative.
The decision to commence or continue the flight with no-destination alternative will lie entirely with the pilot-in-command. However, if circumstances so dictate, the flight will be undertaken with a planned destination alternative. Ultra-long range flight operations will require additional clearances for undertaking no-destination alternative flights.
The pre-requisites for no-destination alternative planning laid down by DGCA include sufficient amount of usable fuel to complete the planned flight safely and to allow for deviations from the planned operation, pre-flight fuel planning and in-flight fuel management as per established parameters and operational circumstances and effective en route decision point planning.