Indian Aviation Regulator Has Banned Flight Crew

Do you like taking selfies wherever you go, and if you are one, then be careful while taking selfies on a flight.  Worried about security risks arising out of in-flight selfies, Indian Aviation Regulator DGCA has banned the flight crew for taking selfies in the flight.

DGCA may soon ask all the airlines to strictly enforce a ban on taking selfies inside the cockpit or flight deck, at other critical places and also including crew members while boarding or deboarding. While the earlier rules put some restrictions on in-flight photography, the regulator will out with new guidelines about security risks for clicking cockpit selfies.

Nowadays the usage of smartphones has increased drastically. There have been many instances of travellers as well as crew members and pilots clicking their pictures inside the flight. To overcome this backdrop, the Indian Aviation Regulator, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is now working on preventive guidelines for airlines.

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A senior DGCA official said “Many instances have come to the notice wherein cockpit crew has indulged in photography in the cockpit. In few cases, both pilots were away from the aircraft controls when the photographs were taken,”

“…to ensure safety of aircraft operations, all the air operators are required to ensure provision of AIC 3 of 1997 and Operation Circular 4 of 2011 on the subject are scrupulously followed…crew do not indulge in photography during any phase of flight. Passengers do not indulge into photography while embarking/disembarking from the aircraft,” Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in Air Safety Circular, issued late last month.

The new guidelines of DGCA would cover various aspects of photography including selfies inside an aircraft. According to the reports, the guidelines may also include at what stage of flight can ground photography permitted.

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“In a recent case one of the pilot was engaged in photography during training flight, which eventually resulted into an accident,” the DGCA said.

Recently, six crew members of IndiGo airlines came under the scanner of DGCA for clicking pictures with the family members inside the cockpit. The photography is prohibited inside the flight unless there is a prior permission from the authorities, Under the Aircraft Rules, 1937.