The Indian air regulatory body warned Air India to violate security rules after three of its airbus aircraft flew, although emergency equipment controls were delayed and showing government documents.
Warning notifications and investigation report – both reviewed by Reuters – were not linked to the Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft that killed all of the 242 people on board, and the days before the incident were sent.
In the Civil Aviation Directorate, the Civil Aviation Directorate reported that spot checks on three Airbus Airbus aircraft found that they were operated, although mandatory inspections were delayed on “critical emergency equipment” of escape images.
In one case, the guard found that the Airbus A320 inspection was delayed more than a month before the 15th May. Airnav radar data shows that during the delay it flew to international destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Another case that includes Airbus A319 used on home routes, showed that the checks were three months late, while the third showed that the inspection was two days late.
“The above cases indicate that the aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard flight and safety requirements,” DGCA reported.
Air India “failed to submit timely responses to compliance” to deficiencies of DGCA, “further shows weak procedure and supervision,” she added.
The Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022, stated in its statement that it “accelerates” verification of all maintenance records, including escape images, and would complete this process in the coming days.
In one of the Air India cases, she said the problem came to light when an engineer from AI engineering services “unintentionally deployed an escape image during maintenance”.
DGCA and Airbus did not answer Reuters’ questions.
Checks on escape images are “a very serious problem. In the event of an accident, if it does not open, this can lead to serious injuries,” said Vibhuti Singh, a former law expert in the government for investigation.
In her report, DGCA stated that the certificate of flight capacity for aircraft that lacks compulsory checks was “considered suspended”.
The warning announcements and report were sent by Animesh Garg, Deputy Director of Flight Accession in the Indian Government, Air India India Campbell Wilson, CEO and continuing air capacity manager, quality manager and planning manager, showed documents.
The Indian Aviation Lawyer said such violations usually attract monetary and civil sanctions for individual managers and airline.
Last year, Wilson told Reuters that the lack of global parts affects most airlines, but the problem was “more acute” to Air India because its “product is obviously much dated”, and many aircraft have not been restored since they were delivered in 2010-2011.
‘System control failure’
The Indian regulator, like many abroad, often attempts to comply with the regulations. The Indian Junior Aviation Minister told Parliament in February that the authorities warned or fined airlines in 23 cases for security breach last year.
About half of them – 12 – included Air India and Air India Express, including in one case “unauthorized entry into the cockpit”. The biggest fine was $ 127,000 per Air India for “insufficient oxygen on board” during the flight to San Francisco.
The crash of last week, the causes of which are still being investigated, will be questioned after years of criticism from travelers for the wrong service to continue to doubt Air India’s attempts to rebuild its image.
The chairman of Air India N. Chandrasecaran told employees on Monday that the accident should be a catalyst to build a safer airlines and urge employees to remain determined in the middle of any criticism.
In her DGCA report, she also stated that several Air India aircraft inspected officials had outdated paperwork. Air India told Reuters all except one aircraft met such requirements, and this “does not represent any impact” on security.
The DGCA investigation report was pulled out by the airline for what it described as “insufficient internal supervision”.
“Despite previous notifications and identification of shortcomings, the internal quality and planning department has not carried out effective remedial measures, indicating system control failure,” he said.
(Tagstotranslate) Air India (T) Aviation Regulator (T) Safety Rules (T) Airbus aircraft (T) emergency equipment
