After Ajit Pawar plane crash, Centre begins inspection of 400 ‘uncontrolled’ airstrips

THe civic air power ministry has started a nationwide review of most 400 uncontrolled airstrips to acquire a uniform set of operating standards and a monitoring mechanism to be jointly managed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and states, officials said.The inspection drive will map infrastructure gaps, communication facilities, firefighting readiness and coordination mechanisms with local authorities. At present, most of these uncontrolled airports are owned by the respective states and are not subject to routine DGCA oversight, creating a regulatory gap.This inspection and formulation of guidelines follow the January 28 Baramati plane crash that killed Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others.Teams from the DGCA have begun examining the practices and safety protocols at Category A airports — facilities where no air traffic control (ATC) service is provided and which are managed by state governments, private operators or flight training organisations (FTOs).ALSO READ | Baramati crash: VSR now faces DGCA auditIndia has at least 400 such airstrips that currently remain outside the DGCA’s regulatory framework. Many of these facilities are used by charter aircraft, political parties and flying schools, but lack standardised procedures for rescue services, runway maintenance and movement coordination.“Existing guidelines for such airstrips do not fall under DGCA’s purview. The regulator, in coordination with the states, will evolve a system so that the status and safety standards of these airports are known to the civil aviation authority,” a senior official said.Another official confirmed that a team has been constituted for the inspection. “Officers from the department of flight safety (FSD), (Directorate of) airworthiness and (Directorate of) Operations have been included, and field inspections have begun the work,” the person added.India classifies airports into four categories. Category A airports are uncontrolled with no ATC service. Category B airports are partially controlled with limited ATC or AFIS services, such as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Jalgaon. Category C airports operate with procedural ATC where aircraft separation is managed without radar, such as Pune. Category D airports are fully controlled radar-based hubs, including Mumbai and Delhi, according to DGCA officials. ALSO READ | Ajit Pawar death: Crash probe intensifies as aircraft debris shifted to MumbaiAmong the prominent uncontrolled but operational airstrips are Baramati, Karad and Chandrapur in Maharashtra; Ujjain and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh; Bhagalpur and Begusarai in Bihar; Alwar in Rajasthan; Sultanpur and Saifai in Uttar Pradesh; and Hassan in Karnataka. All these airports are extensively used by politicians and business jet flights.Analysts say maintaining basic facilities is not a cost.Mark Martin, founder of aviation advisory firm Martin Consultancy, said: “All landing strips whether grass, unpaved, dirt tracks or even cricket and football fields used in remote areas must have basic infrastructure, including a windsock, a small weather station to record temperature, dew point, wind direction, cloud base and barometric pressure, and mandatory CCTV surveillance. These measures, which should be implemented by state governments, would cost no more than ₹2 lakh per strip and ensure a basic level of oversight.”The Baramati accident has renewed scrutiny over safety at non-ATC airfields, where pilots rely on self-coordination rather than controller instructions.“A safety inspector from the state civil aviation department should carry out monthly checks to confirm all equipment are functional and the airstrips are safe for operations, with weather data published daily online so pilots can access accurate information before flying into remote regions such as the North-East, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands,” Martin added.