The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sent an advisory to all airline operators to implement a Child Restraint System specifically designed to protect and restrain an infant or child during all phases of flight.
“It is advised that airlines may encourage and increase the use of Child restraint system by passengers, wherever feasible, travelling by air with infants or children.
The airlines may develop the processes, relevant policies, procedures and training programmes, standard operating procedures (SOP), as well as guidelines for managing change through their safety management systems to allow and enable the use of CRS on board their aircraft,” the DGCA said in its advisory to all airlines. CRS is any device, other than a seat belt, that is designed specifically to protect and restrain an infant or child during all phases of flight. It typically has an internal harness and belt combination. The device needs to interface with the aircraft seat.
This includes devices that are secured using the aircraft seat belt as well as systems that secure the device to the aircraft seat.
This is one of the recommendations of a sub-committee set up after the Air India Express airline accident in Kozhikode in August 2020. The advisory further said that proper use of restraints is one of the most basic and important factor in surviving an accident.
“It is not possible for a parent to physically restrain an infant or child, especially during a sudden acceleration or deceleration, unanticipated or severe turbulence, or impact. The safest way to secure an infant or child on board an aircraft is child restraint system (CRS), in a dedicated seat, appropriate for that infant or child,” the advisory said.
Airline operators were also told to make available on their websites the width of the narrowest and widest passenger seats in each class of service for each make, model and series of airplane used in passenger-carrying operations, and prohibit the use of certain types of Child Restraint Systems during ground movement, take-off, and landing.
An Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kozhikode landed in extreme weather conditions on August 7, 2020 after aborting two attempts and overshot the runway in its third attempt to land.
Due to this, the aircraft that had 184 people on board including 10 children, was broken into two. It also claimed the lives of 21 passengers including two pilots and left several others injured.