Plane spotting: DGCA rules on photography at airports, of a plane, on an airplane in India

Plane photography is one of the most misunderstood hobbies in India. Take out a camera and point it at an aircraft, and you will invite suspicious views from people around you, including the security personnel.

These suspicions are however misplaced due to a complete ignorance of the law, both by the general populace as well as security personnel. Just two weeks ago, while I was flying with a domestic airline, I had to show their security officer copies of the rules before he was convinced.

Photography at airports in India or on-board an Indian carrier or a carrier flying in Indian airspace are controlled by rule 13 which is under part 2 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. Rule 13 states

No person shall take, or cause or permit to be taken, at a Government aerodrome or from an aircraft in flight, any photograph except in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions of a permission in writing granted by the Director-General, a Joint Director General, a Deputy Director-General or the Director of Regulations and Information of the Civil Aviation Department :

Provided that the Director-General from time to time, may, by notification in the official Gazette, direct that these restrictions shall not apply to photography at any Government aerodrome, or within such limits of any Government aerodrome as may be specified in the order.

Photography at airports
Photography is permitted in the terminal buildings of (a) civilian airports and (b) the civil conclaves of defence airports for example Pune, Goa, Guwahati, etc., vide SO1353 dated December 9, 2004. However, please do exercise caution at defence airports and do not photograph the defence areas.

Photography on board or from an aircraft
Photography from an aircraft or on-board a scheduled flight, while on the ground or in the air is permitted to bonafide passengers only, and is limited to civil airports only. Photography at defence airports from an aircraft is a strict no-no. Refer to AIC-7/2004 again dated December 9, 2004.

Carriage of photographic equipment on board an aircraft
As unbelievable as this sounds, till June 14, 2005, the carriage of any photographic equipment on-board an aircraft was banned in India under rule 13A. Thankfully the government has rescinded rule 13A vide G.S.R. 401(E).

Photography near an airport
This is the grey area. If you are taking photographs of aircraft in the sky, it is your right, and there is no law under which this is disallowed.

If you are taking photographs from outside a civilian airport in to the airport, there is again no actual law preventing you. Rule 13 prohibits photography AT airports not OF airports. Do not take photographs at or into a defence airport, you are inviting trouble.

If confronted by security personnel or police
Many a time, the person confronting you has absolutely no clue of the rules. It is important to demonstrate your genuineness, your knowledge of Rule 13 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and always keep copies of notifications with you as this will normally convince the person confronting you.

Police in New Delhi and Mumbai do have a reputation for harassing plane spotters, but given the heightened anti-terror needs of these cities, it is partly understandable. Again, stand your ground, politely explain your genuineness, and demonstrate you are familiar with rule 13 and you have copies of the various notifications.

To join fellow plane spotters visit and join the Facebook group of Aviation Photographers India Foundation, India's first officially recognised plane spotting group. Do remember to give a brief description of yourself when requesting joining.

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Hooray!!! DGCA introduces new rules to punish unruly, abusive and drunk passengers

A special hooray for Indian civil aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation who has notified and incorporated two new rules in to the Indian Aircraft Rules, 1937 meant to control unruly, drunk and abusive passengers on board domestic flights and all international flights destined for India.

Vide GSR 766(E) rules 22 and 23 have been added in to part 3 of the Aircraft Rules.

Rule 22.
Assault and other acts of interference against a crew member
No person shall, on board an aircraft : ─

1. assault, intimidate or threaten, whether physically or verbally, a crew member which may interfere with the performance of the duties of the crew member or lessens the ability of the crew member to perform those duties;
2. refuse to follow a lawful instruction given by the Pilot-in-Command, or on behalf of the Pilot-in-Command by a crew member, for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the aircraft or of any person or property on board or for the purpose of maintaining good order and discipline on board.

Rule 23.
Assault and other acts endangering safety or jeopardizing good order and discipline.
(1) No person shall, on board an aircraft :

1. assault, intimidate or threaten, whether physically or verbally, any person,
2. intentionally cause damage to or destroy any of property,
3. consume alcoholic beverages or drugs,

which is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft or of any person or jeopardizes the good order and discipline on board the aircraft.

(2) For the purposes of rules 22 and 23, the jurisdiction of India shall, in addition to the applicability provided in rule 1 of these rules, also extend to any offence if the act constituting the offence took place on board any aircraft in flight outside India:

Provided that ─

1. the next landing of the aircraft is in India; and
2. the Pilot-in-Command has delivered the suspected offender to the competent authorities of India, with the request that the authorities prosecute the suspected offender and with the affirmation that no similar request has been or shall be made by the Pilot-in-Command or the operator to any other State.

As observed by Bangalore Aviation reader Nitin Nair, a patent analyst in a legal firm,

Before the above mentioned rules were introduced, unruly passengers were booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but were released on bail almost immediately. The airlines generally did not pursue further action against the passenger, resulting in the perpetrator going scot free.

This is a welcome addition to the Aircraft Rules, 1937 as the authorities have been provided teeth to take care of unruly behaviour on-board aircraft.

Through the early months of 2009 a spate of incidents involving unruly passengers running amok, were experienced on both domestic and international flights to India. Bangalore Aviation has consistently advocated the need for strong laws that bring perpetrators to bear the consequences of their misdeeds.

Finally cabin crews have been empowered and required to initiate action. In case you find a fellow passenger misbehaving, you know now the two rules under which they can be penalised. Let us look forward to some peaceful skies.

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DGCA approves use of mobile phones at Indian airports soon after aircraft lands and clears runway

In most countries across the world, especially in North America and Western Europe, the use of mobile phones is permitted soon after the aircraft lands and exits the active runway. In India, many a passenger broke current rules by following this practice.

No longer.

India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is finally bringing Indian carriers in line with these global practices, by amending Rule 29B of Aircraft Rules 1937, to provide for the use of the cellular phones by passengers after the aircraft has landed and cleared the active runway, except in cases when low visibility conditions exist at the airport.

For the compliance of the amended requirement, the DGCA has suggested the following procedure to airlines to be adopted at the earliest, but no later than October 22, 2010 which is this Friday.

The Pilot In Command (PIC), (a) having cleared the active runway after landing (b) with no other runways or intersections to cross, (c) in visual flight conditions and (d) when he or she comfortable, will intimate the cabin crew in-charge on the intercom to make an announcement informing the passengers that they are allowed to use a cellular phone to make or receive calls.

A suggested announcement could be

“Passengers are advised that the use of mobile phones after landing is now allowed. Aircraft has left the active runway and has slowed down, passengers may use their mobile phones now.”

Bangalore Aviation would like to remind passengers that mobile phones do create significant electronic disturbance (just bring your mobile phone next to your land-line telephone instrument and hear the noise).

Therefore the use of phones is still at the discretion of the pilot. With the exception of New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport, there is hardly any airport in India where the aircraft taxies for more than five minutes.

What is your view? Surely we can wait for those few minutes, if the need arises?

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