Air India warned over delayed checks on escape slides
The warning notices and an investigation report – both reviewed by Reuters – were not in any way related to last week's crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 plane that killed all but one of the 242 people onboard, and were sent days before that incident.
In the report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said spot checks in May on three Air India Airbus planes found that they were operated despite mandatory inspections being overdue on the 'critical emergency equipment' of escape slides.
In one case, the watchdog found that the inspection of an Airbus A320 jet was delayed by more than a month before being carried out on May 15.
AirNav Radar data shows that during the delay the plane flew to international destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Another case, involving an Airbus A319 used on domestic routes, showed checks were over three months late, while a third showed an inspection was two days late.
'The above cases indicate that aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements,' the DGCA report said.
Air India 'failed to submit timely compliance responses' to deficiencies raised by the DGCA, 'further evidencing weak procedural control and oversight', it added.
Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022 from the government, said in a statement that it was 'accelerating' verification of all maintenance records, including dates of the escape slides, and would complete the process in the coming days.
In one of the cases, Air India said, the issue came to light when an engineer from AI Engineering Services 'inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance'.
The DGCA and Airbus did not respond to Reuters queries.
Checks on escape slides are 'a very serious issue. In case of accident, if they don't open, it can lead to serious injuries', said Vibhuti Singh, a former legal expert at the government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
The DGCA said in its report that the certificates of airworthiness for aircraft that miss mandatory checks were 'deemed suspended'. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 minutes ago
- The Star
Indonesia's 2026 budget is designed to make the country strong, President Prabowo says
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said efficiency measures would be needed to reduce the country's budget deficit. -- PHOTO: REUTERS JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto on Friday (Aug 15) said his budget for 2026 would be designed to ensure the South-East Asian country was strong, independent and prosperous, as he delivered his first speech on fiscal policy to Parliament. The budget proposal is the first developed by Prabowo's administration after he took office in October 2024. The 2025 budget was prepared by his predecessor, Joko Widodo. Prabowo has pledged to lift spending as he seeks to raise economic growth to 8 per cent during his five-year term and deliver on his campaign platform of improving welfare and achieving food and energy self-sufficiency. In his address, Prabowo said the 2026 budget deficit was seen at 2.48 per cent of gross domestic product. He said efficiency measures would need to be taken to reduce the gap and vowed to have no deficit by 2027 or 2028. For 2026, he proposed to spend 335 trillion rupiah (S$26.3 billion) on his flagship programme to deliver free meals to 82.9 million students, children and pregnant women. Prabowo allotted 171 trillion rupiah for the free meals programme this year, which he said has reached about 20 million recipients. He also promised budgetary support to decarbonise Indonesia's electricity, saying he wanted the country to use 100 per cent renewable power sources in the next ten years or earlier. Indonesia currently relies on coal for over half of its power generation. In his address, Prabowo, a former defence minister and special forces commander, also said Indonesia must modernise its military hardware, adding his country had rare earths deposits that were vital to modern defence. -- REUTERS
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Trump says he will set tariffs on steel and semiconductor chips in coming weeks
FILE PHOTO: Steel rolls from China are seen after being unloaded at the Valparaiso port, Chile July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido/File Photo ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would announce tariffs on imports of steel and semiconductor chips in coming weeks. "I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after on steel and on, I would say, chips," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. He said the rates would be lower at the start to allow companies to build up domestic manufacturing in the U.S., rising sharply later, following a pattern he has also outlined for tariffs on pharmaceuticals. He gave no exact rates. "I'm going to have a rate that is going to be lower at the beginning - that gives them a chance to come in and build - and very high after a certain period of time," he said. Trump said he felt confident that companies would opt to manufacture in the United States, rather than face high tariffs. Trump has upended global trade by imposing sharply higher duties on nearly all countries' exports to the United States, along with tariffs on specific sectors, such as automotive. Trump in February raised tariffs on steel and aluminum to a flat 25%, but he announced in May that he would double the rate to 50% to boost domestic manufacturers. It was not immediately clear if another tariff increase on the metals was in the offing. Trump said last week he would impose a tariff of 100% on imports of semiconductors, but companies that committed to building up manufacturing in the United States would be exempt. His remarks were made in tandem with an announcement that Apple would be investing an additional $100 billion in its home market. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal, editing by Ross Colvin)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Trump says it will be up to Ukraine to decide on territorial swaps
U.S. President Donald Trump waves while boarding Air Force One, as he departs for Alaska to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not negotiate on behalf of Ukraine in his Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and would let Kyiv decide whether to engage in territorial swaps with Russia. Trump said his goal was to get the two sides to start a negotiation, with any territorial swaps to be addressed then. "They'll be discussed, but I've got to let Ukraine make that decision, and I think they'll make a proper decision. But I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump's remarks are likely to offer some assurance to Ukraine, which is worried that the U.S.-Russia talks could freeze the conflict at Ukraine's expense. Trump said the Russian offensive in Ukraine was likely aimed at helping to strengthen Putin's hand in any negotiations to end the war. "I think they're trying to negotiate. He's trying to set a stage. In his mind that helps him make a better deal. It actually hurts him, but in his mind that helps him make a better deal if they can continue the killing," he said. The U.S. president said he expected his meeting with Putin to produce results, given the stakes involved and weakness in the Russian economy. "He's a smart guy, been doing it for a long time but so have I ... we get along, there's a good respect level on both sides, and I think, you know, something's going to come of it," he said. Trump said it was a good sign that Putin was bringing business executives with him from Russia, but said no deals could be made until the war was settled. "I like that 'cause they want to do business, but they're not doing business until we get the war settled," he said. (Reporting by Steve Holland, Susan Heavey and Ryan Patrick Jones, writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Ross Colvin and David Goodman)
