DGCA Uncovers Over 50 Safety Lapses In Air India Operations During Annual Audit

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has identified 51 safety lapses in Air India's operations during its yearly audit, raising serious questions about the airline's training standards and operational protocols under the Tata Group.

Seven "Level I" breaches, classified as critical, have been uncovered which must be rectified by July 30, while an additional 44 non-compliance issues will have to be resolved by Aug. 23, the DGCA audit document showed.

Among key violations are outdated training manuals, which could hinder crew preparedness; untrained staff managing flight rosters, potentially leading to scheduling errors with crew not receiving mandated rest periods; recurrent training gaps among some of the Boeing 787 and 777 pilots as well as use of non-qualified simulators for training exercises. The report also revealed that Air India did not do proper route assessments for some Category C airports, which may have difficult layouts or terrain, while door checks and equipment checks were not consistent with procedures.

Air India's fleet includes 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 23 Boeing 777.

The aviation safety regulator has directed the airline to provide evidence of compliance with safety protocols. Failure to meet these deadlines could lead to further enforcement actions.

In an emailed statement to NDTV Profit, an Air India spokesperson has acknowledged receipt of the findings and said, "will submit our response to the regulator within the stipulated time frame, along with the details of the corrective actions taken." During the annual audit, the airline "was fully transparent with auditors in the spirit of such continuous improvement."

The annual audit was conducted at Air India's main base in Gurugram earlier between July 1 and July 4. The findings are the latest in a series of regulatory concerns flagged at Air India in the wake of the AI-171 plane crash on June 12 that claimed 260 lives, underscoring the urgent need for Air India to overhaul its safety practices and restore passenger confidence.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Monday, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that the DGCA took enforcement action against Air India for operating an aircraft with overdue emergency slide inspections, a critical safety breach uncovered during a regulatory audit. 

On July 23, the DGCA issued four show-cause notices to Air India for various safety lapses requiring the airline to respond within 15 days. It held the airline's director of flight operations and its director of training accountable for 29 "systemic" lapses involving crew duty norms, fatigue management and training oversight, and ignoring "repeated" warnings.

Prior to this, on June 21, the regulator directed Air India to remove three officials from all roles and responsibilities related to crew scheduling and rostering with immediate effect for serious violations.

Days after AI 171 crashed, over 100 Air India pilots went on sick leave, leading to questions over the airline's handling of the welfare of its pilots.

Last week, the government began holding direct meetings with senior Air India management, calling for better oversight on safety and engineering.

Less than a minute after a London-bound Air India flight 171 took off from Ahmedabad on June 12, it lost momentum, exploded into flames, and crashed, killing 241 onboard and 19 on the ground. A preliminary report into the crash found that both fuel control switches were flipped almost simultaneously after takeoff, causing the plane to lose altitude.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which is probing the case, is now examining the pilots' actions and whether the switches were moved manually or due to a fault. The 15-page preliminary report did not recommend action against Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane.

Even as the investigation is underway, the tragic event has already harmed Air India and the Tatas. After Tata Group acquired Air India in 2022, it laid out a transformative five-year plan entailing billions-worth of investments in new aircraft, upgrading IT systems, revamping internal processes, and enhancing the consumer experience to shed its legacy image. However, the recent regulatory actions have raised doubts about Air India's ability to operate safely, throwing its long-term ambitions into jeopardy.