The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the approval of Air India’s flight safety head for a month due to serious lapses found during an inspection. These lapses were identified in the airline’s internal safety audits, accident prevention measures, and the availability of necessary technical staff in July.
The DGCA’s surveillance revealed deficiencies in Air India’s accident prevention efforts and the availability of required technical manpower, as stipulated in the approved Flight Safety Manual and relevant Civil Aviation Requirements. It was also observed that some internal audits and spot checks claimed to have been conducted by the airline were carried out superficially and did not meet regulatory requirements.
After reviewing Air India’s action taken report, the DGCA issued show cause notices to relevant officials of the Tata Group airline. Based on the responses received, the airline has been instructed not to assign any audits, surveillance, or spot checks related to DGCA compliance to the auditor involved in the superficial inspections. The approval of Air India’s Chief of Flight Safety has been suspended for a month due to these established lapses. Air India has not yet commented on the DGCA’s actions.
DGCA officials stated that their inspection team discovered that several safety spot checks claimed to have been conducted by the airline at Delhi, Mumbai, and Goa were not actually performed, and reports were falsified.