Days before Ahmedabad crash, DGCA had warned Air India over safety lapses in Airbus fleet
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued a stern warning to Air India for serious safety violations involving delayed inspections on emergency equipment in three of its Airbus aircraft, said a Reuters report on Thursday.
According to Reuters, it has reviewed government documents — warning notices and an investigation report — which showed that the DGCA had found that the aircraft were operated without timely checks on critical escape slides.
However, the DGCA report was not related to the aircraft that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12.
The DGCA investigation report revealed that three Airbus aircraft operated by Air India were flown despite mandatory safety inspections being overdue. The checks focused on critical emergency escape slides, and in one case involving an Airbus A320 jet, the inspection was delayed by over a month and only completed on May 15. The Reuters said according to AirNav Radar, the aircraft flew internationally to Dubai, Riyadh, and Jeddah during this period.
Another case involved an Airbus A319 on domestic routes, where the required check was more than three months overdue. A third aircraft inspection was delayed by two days. 'The above cases indicate that aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements,' the DGCA report quoted by Reuters stated.
The report criticised Air India for its slow response to the deficiencies flagged by the regulator. 'Air India failed to submit timely compliance responses… further evidencing weak procedural control and oversight,' the DGCA reportedly noted in the investigation report.
In one case, the issue came to light after an engineer from AI Engineering Services 'inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance.'
Highlighting broader concerns, the DGCA said certificates of airworthiness for aircraft that missed mandatory checks were 'deemed suspended.' Additionally, officials discovered outdated registration paperwork on several Air India aircraft. While the airline claimed that only one aircraft remained non-compliant and that the issue 'poses no impact' to safety, the regulator flagged the lapses as signs of 'inadequate internal oversight,' the Reuters reported.
'Despite prior notifications and identified deficiencies, the organization's internal quality and planning departments failed to implement effective corrective action, indicating systemic control failure,' the DGCA report read, Reuters said.
Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022, responded by stating it is 'accelerating' verification of all maintenance records, including escape slide inspection dates, and plans to complete the process in the coming days.
The warnings and investigation findings were sent by Animesh Garg, Deputy Director of Airworthiness, to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, as well as the airline's heads of planning, airworthiness, and quality, the Reuters report said.
The DGCA and Airbus declined to comment.
The aviation watchdog's scrutiny comes at a time of heightened focus on safety compliance. Earlier this year, India's junior aviation minister had informed Parliament that 23 safety violation cases had been flagged in 2023. Of these, 12 involved Air India and Air India Express. Notably, the airline was fined $127,000 for 'insufficient oxygen on board' during a San Francisco-bound flight, while another case involved 'unauthorised entry into cockpit.'
In light of last week's Boeing 787-8 crash that killed all but one of the 242 people on board, Air India faces fresh challenges to restore its reputation. Although the crash is unrelated to the current safety warnings, it has intensified scrutiny on the airline's safety practices.
Chairman N Chandrasekaran addressed employees on Monday, urging them to view the tragedy as a turning point. He called on staff to stay resilient and work toward building a safer airline amid any criticism.
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