DGCA audit finds 263 safety lapses across Indian airlines; Air India tops list
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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), announced on Wednesday, that its regular annual audit has uncovered 263 safety-related lapses across the country's major airlines.According to Reuters, the audit revealed 51 deficiencies at the Tata-owned Air India, the highest among all carriers, followed by 23 lapses at India's largest airline, IndiGo. The aviation watchdog provided a breakdown for other major airlines, namely, Air India Express with 25 lapses, Vistara 17 lapses and SpiceJet 14 lapses.The regulator noted that Akasa Air is yet to be audited.In its statement, the DGCA clarified that these audits are a routine part of its safety oversight, conducted in line with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and global best practices.The regulator also cautioned that it is normal for airlines with larger fleet sizes and more extensive operations to have a higher number of audit findings.The findings for Air India, which were first reported by Reuters on Tuesday, include a lack of adequate training for some pilots, the use of unapproved flight simulators, and a poor rostering system.The DGCA made it clear that the audit was not connected to the fatal Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad last month which killed 260 people.The regulator has categorised the breaches into two levels of severity. A total of 19 lapses across all airlines were classified as Level I, indicating significant safety breaches, while the rest were deemed Level II non-compliances.The DGCA did not publicly detail the specific nature of each lapse found at the airlines.>
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