DGCA Issues Directive To Airlines After Incidents Of Mishaps Rise

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday cracked down on airlines following the “increased engineering-related occurrences.”

Concerned over a rise in such incidents, the DGCA carried out many spot checks and advised that all aircraft at base as well as transit stations shall be released by certifying staff holding licence with appropriate authorisation by their organisation. , ANI reported.

The inspections conducted by the DGCA have showed:-

•    Improper identification of cause of defect
•    Increased trend of MEL (minimum equipment list) releases
•    Non-availability of required certifying staff at short intervals for multiple scheduled arrivals/departures

In the wake of a string of technical malfunction incidents involving Indian carriers, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held one-on-one meetings with chiefs of Indian carriers on Monday, asking them to ramp up safety oversight, sources told PTI.

There have been multiple technical malfunction incidents in Indian carriers' planes during the last one month. Scindia told each airline to take all necessary steps that are needed to ramp up safety oversight, the sources said. Scindia had on Sunday held a meeting on safety issues with senior officials of his ministry and regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

During the Sunday meeting, the minister had taken a detailed report from officials about the incidents over the last one month and told them that there should be no compromise over passengers' safety.

On Sunday, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precautionary measure after pilots observed a defect in one of the engines.

On Saturday night, the Calicut-Dubai flight of the Air India Express was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air.

A day earlier an alive bird was found in the cockpit of the Air India Express Bahrain-Kochi flight.

SpiceJet is under regulatory scanner right now. On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19.

The DGCA is currently investigating all these incidents.