DGCA Issues Advisory to Indian Airlines on Boeing 737 Rudder Control System Risk

On Monday, aviation regulator DGCA issued an advisory to Indian airlines operating Boeing 737 aircraft, warning of potential risks related to a jammed rudder control system. This advisory comes in response to a recent investigation report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which raised safety concerns regarding Boeing 737 planes equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.

In light of the potential risk of a jammed or restricted rudder control system, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued safety recommendations to Indian airlines operating affected aircraft. According to a report of PTI,   Currently, Air India Express, Akasa Air and SpiceJet operate Boeing 737 planes. DGCA said all flight crews are to be informed through a circular/advisory regarding the possibility of a jammed or restricted rudder control system.

The DGCA said that "appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation." Additionally, all operators have been instructed to conduct a safety risk assessment for their aircraft to evaluate and mitigate risks related to the rudder control system. The regulator also mandated the discontinuation of all Category III B approach, landing, and rollout operations, including practice or actual autoland, for these planes until further notice. Category III B refers to operations in low visibility conditions.

Among other measures, airlines have been asked to mandatorily include discussion about potential rudder control system issues as a mandatory topic in recurrent training sessions. It will also be included in the Instrument Rating/Proficiency Checks (IR/PPC) during pre-simulator briefings. "Operators have been instructed to include specific exercises in Recurrent Training and IR/PPC that simulate scenarios involving a jammed or restricted rudder control system, including rollout procedures.