9 hours ago
DGCA Asks Air India to Act Against 3 Errant Officials
The civil aviation regulator has asked Air India to remove the head of its operations control centre and two other senior officials from operational roles and initiate disciplinary action against them, citing violation of pilot rest rules.
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The civil aviation regulator has asked Air India to remove the head of its operations control centre and two other senior officials from operational roles and initiate disciplinary action against them, citing violation of pilot rest action is not connected to the June 12 crash of an Air India Boeing 787 aircraft in Ahmedabad that killed 241 of the 242 people on board and more than 30 on the its order on Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) warned the Tata Sons-controlled airline that a repeat of such violations could lead to the suspension of its has seen a copy of the order that names operations control centre head Choorah Singh and crew scheduling managers Pinky Mittal and Payal to the DGCA, these officials were involved in multiple lapses, including unauthorised and non-compliant crew pairings, violations of licensing and crew rest rules and systemic failures in is the second time the same officials have been pulled up by the regulator. The DGCA had in February asked Air India to take action against the three after it discovered that a first officer operated a flight without the compulsory training Friday, the regulator also sent a show cause notice to Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson citing the violation and seeking an explanation within seven DGCA said during an audit of the airline, it found that the carrier had operated two flights on the Bengaluru-London route where the pilots exceeded the stipulated duty limit of 10 hours.'Internal disciplinary proceedings must be initiated against these officials without delay, and the outcome of such proceedings shall be reported to this office within 10 days from the date of issue of this letter,' the DGCA said.'The officials are also to be reassigned to non-operational roles,' the regulator said. It barred them from holding any position with direct influence on flight safety and crew India, in a statement, said chief operations officer Basil Kawuk will provide direct oversight to the Integrated Operations Control Centre. Kawuk joined Air India last year from Singapore Airlines.'Air India is committed to ensuring that there is total adherence to safety protocols and standard practices,' the airline said. It didn't respond to queries on the show cause notice to Wilson. Regulatory scrutiny of Air India's flight operations has increased following the crash. The DGCA is doing enhanced inspections of the Boeing 787 fleet of Air India. The scrutiny is extensive and includes a one-time check of the take-off parameters, to review the last 15 days of technical snags on these aircraft and resolve any recurring airline has said it would reduce flights to Europe and North America by 15% till mid-July to increase contingency aircraft to cater for cancellation, as flights have been delayed due to the DGCA checks as well as the closure of the Iran airspace that is forcing airlines a longer curfew in European airports to reduce noise pollution has further delayed the return leg as pilots also ran out of their permitted duty hours.
