DGCA’s surveillance detects several safety flaws at airports, aircraft

The surveillance, conducted late Monday and early Tuesday, also included Delhi and Mumbai international airports, and covered critical aspects such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic control (ATC), communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems and pre-flight medical evaluations.

“Throughout the surveillance, ground activities and aircraft movements were closely monitored to check the compliance of regulatory requirements and to identify weak areas for improvement,” said DGCA in a statement.

Also read: DGCA orders Air India to remove 3 employees for violating rules on flight crew schedules

Without naming the airline, DGCA highlighted that reported defects re-appeared many times on one particular aircraft. “This indicated ineffective monitoring and rectification of actions on the defects of the aircraft,” the aviation regulator added.

On 12 June, the London-bound Air India flight crashed soon after taking off in Ahmedabad, killing more than 240 people.

The DGCA also noted that ground handling equipment like baggage trollies, baggage freight loader were found unserviceable. The regulator, however, did not mention the airports where these deficiencies were observed.

The regulator also found that work order was not being followed during maintenance of an aircraft of a particular airline. The DGCA noted that the safety precautions as per aircraft maintenance manual was not being followed by the aircraft maintenance engineer (AME).

Also read: Ahmedabad plane crash: DGCA asks Air India for details of inspections, audits since 2024, says report

“The AME was not attending to the snag rectification and the defect reports generated by the aircraft system were not found recorded in the technical logbook. Several life vests were not properly secured under designated seats and the corrosion-resistant tape on the right-hand side winglet’s lower blade was found to be damaged,” noted the regulator.

At another airport, the regulator observed that the centre line marking of runway had faded, and the green centre light on the rapid exit taxiway was found unidirectional. Despite new construction around the airport, the obstruction limitation data was not updated since the past three years. The obstruction limitation data is part of a system that helps the airport to set maximum allowable height for objects in the vicinity of the airport.

DGCA also checked a simulator which did not match with the aircraft configuration.

At another airport, a domestic flight of a scheduled carrier was held up due to worn-out tyres and it was released only after the rectification was carried out.

DGCA said, “All the findings observed during the surveillance have been communicated to the concerned operators for taking necessary corrective actions within seven days. This process of comprehensive surveillance will continue in future to detect hazards in the system.”

Also read: DGCA orders Air India to conduct immediate checks of all Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft

On 19 June, the DGCA issued an order to conduct special surveillance of the entire aviation ecosystem across the country. This step has been taken almost a week after the tragic Air India plane crash. As per the exercise, audits will also be conducted at offices of airlines, MROs and training institutes.