New Delhi, March 28 (AHN) Pilot body Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA) on Saturday urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to suspend commercial operations into high‑risk conflict zones in West Asia and to mandate disclosure and verification of valid insurance coverage for crew.

ALPA urged the regulator to continue suspension until completion of a centralised, authoritative risk assessment.

It wanted binding directives to be imposed aligned with international best practices and Intelligence inputs for operations near active conflict areas.

According to the association, commercial carriers lack the Intelligence, surveillance and geopolitical risk‑assessment capabilities to evaluate threats in active war zones and delegating such assessments to them creates inconsistent safety standards.

In a letter to the DGCA, the pilot association cited previous incidents of civilian airlines being shot down in the fog of war to highlight risks to safety of passengers, flight crew while operating in West Asia

“This issue was previously raised by us on March 18 with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The DGCA issued an Urgent Safety advisory dated March 19 as a response -- advising airlines to conduct their own independent risk assessments -- which raises significant concerns," the letter said.

However, the association maintained that such assessments fall squarely within the domain of sovereign authorities and specialised agencies.

“Pilots have been actively seeking clarification regarding the status and validity of their insurance coverage while operating into such high-risk zones. To date, no documentary evidence or formal assurance has been provided to confirm that adequate war risk insurance coverage remains valid under these circumstances," the association flagged.

Perhaps, the lapse is due to airlines not having suitable and adequate insurance riders entirely, ALPA suggested.

Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by the US during the previous conflict of similar circumstances, while Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was shot down by Israel, and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by Iran, ALPA cited previous examples.

It called on the regulator to initiate a thorough enquiry into the decision-making processes within Air India, particularly the roles of the Vice President - Operations and the Crew Scheduling Department.

As the airline is conducting its operations in West Asia, the association wants accountability to be determined “for exposing crew and passengers to such risks, particularly if found not to have adequate war risk insurance.”

—AHN

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