DGCA, India’s civil aviation regulator approved Telangana’s state-owned Telangana State Aviation Academy (TSAA) to become a drone training school on August 13. The regulator has so far approved ten such schools, with four of them being in Telangana. This makes TSAA the second government-owned drone training school to get DGCA approval after the regulator had approved Odisha's Government Aviation Training Institute on August 11. While responding to MediaNama’s queries on earlier this week, Amber Dubey, joint secretary at the Civil Aviation Ministry had told us that TSAA was being “encouraged by MocA [Civil Aviation Ministry] to speed up their paperwork”. Drone training schools play a crucial role in the process of pilots getting a licence as current drone regulations require that pilots complete a minimum a 35-hour training program spread over 5 days, which includes classroom sessions, simulator training and practical training: and the only place where they can get this training is at these training schools. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's order dated August 13, TSAA had sought permission to become a drone training school on July 19. Its status as a drone training school will remain valid for one year, or until the Digital Sky platform is operationalised, the order said. The safety and security of drone operations will remain TSAA’s responsibility, and the organisation will have to ensure the safety, security and privacy of public, property, and operators, among others, per the order. In June, DGCA had floated a draft circular which proposed to allow willing…
