Air India Express said the pilot has been removed from duty while an investigation is underway. A passenger has alleged that he was physically assaulted by an off-duty Air India Express pilot at Delhi airport's Terminal 1. The airline later confirmed that the pilot has been removed from his duties
DGCA probes Air India A320 which flew without safety certificate, suspends staff
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe into an Air India A320 neo aircraft, which allegedly operated on at least eight routes without a valid airworthiness certificate.
Meanwhile, the “concerned personnel” have been de-rostered until the investigation is completed, a statement released by the aviation watchdog said. The DGCA has further instructed the flight operator to ground the aircraft.
Meanwhile, on the directions of the regulator, Air India has also launched an internal investigation to identify “deficiencies in their system and put corrective measures in place to prevent such failures from occuring in the future.”
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The DGCA was informed by the airline on November 26 about the flying of the A320 plane with an expired Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) on at least eight revenue sectors, the statement said.
The statement said that Air India issues an ARC in respect of the aircraft it operates. The certificate is issued on an annual basis to an aircraft after the conducting of a comprehensive review of its maintenance records, its physical condition, and verification that the plane has complied with all airworthiness standards.
The certificate serves as a validation of the aircraft's main Certificate of Airworthiness, according to the DGCA statement.
The merger process of Vistara into Air India went underway in June, 2024. During this, it was decided that for all 70 aircraft operated by Vistara, the first ARC renewal post-merger would be done by the DGCA.
In accordance with this, the aviation regular has provided an airworthiness certificate to 69 of the aircraft after satisfactory compliance, the DGCA said in the statement.
However, in respect of the 70th aircraft, the operator filed an application with the DGCA and it was grounded for engine change. During this period, the ARC of the aircraft expired.
However, following the engine change, the aircraft was cleared for operations, despite it not having a valid ARC from the aviation regulator.
Source: HindustanTimes
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Air India Express said the pilot has been removed from duty while an investigation is underway. A passenger has alleged that he was physically assaulted by an off-duty Air India Express pilot at Delhi airport's Terminal 1. The airline later confirmed that the pilot has been removed from his duties
2 months ago
