Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended Air India’s chief of flight safety for one month over lapses.
The decision was taken after DGCA carried out the surveillance of Air India on 25 and 26 July in areas of internal audit, accident prevention work and availability of required technical manpower, according to the DGCA.
The DGCA surveillance found deficiencies in the accident prevention work carried out by the organisation and the availability of the requisite technical manpower as required in the approved flight safety manual and the relevant civil aviation requirements.
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.
DGCA after reviewing the action taken report submitted by the airline, 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.
The aviation regulator has directed Air India not to assign any audits, surveillance, or spot checks pertaining to compliance of DGCA to the particular auditor, whose inspections indicate a lack of diligence.