Lapses in ‘accident prevention’: DGCA suspends Air India’s chief of flight safety for a…

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended Air India chief of flight safety following deficiencies found during checks conducted for some critical departments of the airline this July. The regulator has also issued show cause notice to the airline following lapses like improper internal audits and spot checks.
“DGCA team (had) carried out the surveillance of Air India on July 25and 26, 2023, in the areas of internal audit, accident prevention work and availability of required technical man power. (We) found deficiencies in AI’s accident prevention work and (in) the availability of requisite technical man power as required in the approved Flight Safety Manual and the relevant Civil Aviation Requirements (rules). Further it was observed that some of the internal audit/spot checks claimed to be carried out by the airline were done in a perfunctory manner and not as per the regulatory requirements,” a senior DGCA official said.
After reviewing the action taken report submitted by AI, the DGCA issued show cause notices to the concerned post holders. “Based on the review of the replies received, the airline has been directed not to assign any audits/surveillance/spot checks pertaining to compliance of DGCA requirements to the particular auditor involved in the perfunctory inspections which indicates lack of diligence. Further the approval of AI’s chief of flight safety has been suspended for a month for the lapses established,” the DGCA official said.
AI has been facing regulatory heat for the past few months in a number of cases. Most recently the DGCA had directed AI to stop using its pilot training facilities in Mumbai (for Boeing) and Hyderabad (for Airbus) over deficiencies found in the simulator sessions conducted there. Later the airline was conditionally allowed to resume their use.
Before that DGCA had found AI had conducted 13 spot checks related to flight safety at Delhi, Mumbai and Goa between January and June, 2023, only on paper without the same having been actually carried out. These fabricated reports were even accepted by the airline’s two senior officials, the regulator had found. These 13 checks were supposed to have been carried out between January and June, 2023, in areas like ramp, cargo, cabin surveillance and post flight medical examination. Airlines and the regulator keep conducting random surprise checks across various departments to ensure things are in order and that safety is not being compromised.