First woman chief of aviation regulator takes charge

New Delhi, Jan 1: India's first women chief of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) M. Sathiyavathy took charge Thursday from erstwhile incumbent Prabhat Kumar. According to a civil aviation ministry official, the 1982-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Union Territories (UT) cadre will head DGCA for three years till 2017. However, Sathiyavathy might have to relinquish her DGCA charge, as she is due to be elevated to Secretary-level later this year. Sathiyavathy's appointment comes as the DGCA is trying to regain from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) its Category-I safety status from the downgraded category-II.