India's watchdog to start Air India annual audit, days after deadly crash
Ten officials from India's aviation safety watchdog will visit Air India headquarters on Tuesday for an annual audit, a government memo showed, just as the airline is facing intense scrutiny after a plane crash killed 271 people. The audit is unrelated to the accident, but Air India has been getting warning notices for compliance lapses in recent days, and has also reduced its routes citing "operational stability" needs after the June 12 deadly crash of its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in India's Ahmedabad.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials will inspect documents related to Air India operations, previous audit findings and action-taken reports during the visit, according to a government memo seen by Reuters.
The 10-member DGCA team will include many flight operation inspectors and will be led by Adhiraj Yadav, a deputy chief flight operations inspector. Two officials to check on cabin safety norms are also in the team.
The "annual surveillance and regulatory audit" will last from June 24-26, and mandatorily requires top Air India executives to be present, the memo stated.
Air India and the DGCA did not respond to Reuters queries. The watchdog on Saturday issued a warning to Air India for "repeated and serious violations" related to pilot duty scheduling, and directed the airline to remove three company executives from crew scheduling roles.
Air India said it has complied with the order.
Air India was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022 and faces many challenges in its attempts to rebuild its image, after years of criticism from travelers for poor service. Last week, Reuters also reported the authorities had also warned Air India for breaching safety rules after three of its Airbus planes flew despite being overdue for checks on emergency equipment of escape slides.
The cause of the June 12 incident is still under investigation.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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