DGCA for review of airlines call signs to improve air safety

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA is undertaking the review of domestic airlines' call signs following a number of "near misses" between two aircraft due to "confusion" arising out of similar-sounding such identifiers used during ATC-flight communications.

A call sign is the airline code and the flight number. During communications between the Air Traffic Control and the pilot onboard a flight, phonetic versions for alphabets are used worldwide.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has set up a committee comprising officials from the DGCA, Airports Authority of India, domestic airlines as well as the Delhi Airport, to look into the confusing or similar call signs used by the carriers, and suggest measures to remove the ambiguity, they said.

"Use of similar or identical call signs by the airlines has at times resulted in confusion for the pilots or Air Traffic Controllers. This has, in turn, led to a number of near misses in the last few years. So, the source of confusion has to be removed," a senior DGCA official said.

The committee, constituted last month has been told to submit its report by March and has also been mandated to take a review of all the relevant regulations, international best practices and suggest measures for safe flight operations, the official said.