India to mandate facial scans for airport staff, fast-track full-body scanners after Flydubai incident

New Delhi: Airline and airport employees in India will have to mandatorily undergo facial recognition screening, while full-body scanners will be speedily installed at eight major airports, among measures aimed at further tightening aviation security, government officials said Thursday.

The steps follow Wednesday's incident during which a co-pilot in a Boeing 737 Max jetliner on a scheduled Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight operated by Flydubai tried to seize control midair. He also stabbed the senior pilot, an Indian national named Smit Machchhar, in the struggle inside the cockpit.

Also read: Inside FlyDubai's 4-hour ordeal: A cockpit fight, steep descents and alternating distress codes


Rajesh Nirwan, director general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), said the portal for entry passes will be entirely digitally controlled.

"Integrating the airport entry passes with a facial recognition system will reduce queues at a number of airports where staffers and passengers use the same gate for entry," said Nirwan.

Currently, airport entry passes are issued as physical cards by BCAS to a variety of airport and airline staff across the country. The Central Indian Security Force (CISF) is tasked with checking IDs of such personnel during airport entry and exit. Almost 1.5 million such passes are granted every year.

Samir Sinha, civil aviation secretary, said full-body scanners will be introduced at eight airports for scanning flyers as the government is looking to strengthen aviation security. "Machines have been delivered to three airports," said Sinha. "The remaining five will get it soon."

Simultaneously, the ministry is collecting and analysing data from these devices.

ARCs seek govt help to speed up recovery

Mumbai: Asset reconstruction companies have sought government intervention to speed up debt recovery through the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) and the Sarfaesi mechanism, and proposed that interim stays be allowed to lapse automatically after two months unless specifically extended by the tribunal.

The Association of ARCs in India also urged the government to advise DRTs to avoid staying recovery proceedings without hearing both sides, ensure prior notice to secured creditors and impose appropriate pre-deposit conditions before hearing an appeal.

It sought filling of vacancies in DRTs within 15 days of them arising and the greater use of electronic services in litigation. It proposed allowing DRTs to rely on authenticated records maintained with National E-Governance Services Ltd as evidence of debt and default, besides penalties for frivolous litigation.

Also read: Trump: 'Based on what I'm hearing,' Iran may be linked to FlyDubai copilot

The push comes as DRT and the Sarfaesi mechanisms helped banks recover ₹2.30 lakh crore during 2021-25, compared with ₹2.28 lakh crore recovered through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code during the same period, according to data compiled by the association.

The Sarfaesi Act empowers banks and financial institutions to take possession and auction collateral properties without judicial intervention to recover bad loans.

Association of ARCs in India chief executive Hari Hara Mishra said the 2002 Act created an enabling environment for banks to repossess charged assets. "Often it is viewed narrowly as a recovery tool only, but it is much more than that. It envisaged a set of dedicated specialised workout units called ARCs, created an instrument called security receipts to facilitate securitisation of stressed assets, again an innovation. Later on, it created a framework for CERSAI, a database for all mortgaged property across all states," he said. "At 25, Sarfaesi has its demographic dividend, and given the right direction can contribute much more to Viksit Bharat."