DGCA warned Air India about overdue escape slide checks: Report
The aviation regulator found three Airbus planes operating with critical emergency equipment checks delayed by up to 3 months
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has reportedly warned Air India for breaching safety rules after spot checks on three of its Airbus planes in May this year revealed that they were operated despite mandatory inspections being overdue on escape slides, which are “critical emergency equipment”.
The warning notices and an investigation report were sent days before the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, and were not related to it, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
Delayed inspections
The aviation regulator discovered that in one case, the inspection of an Airbus A320 plane was delayed by more than a month, and that during that period, the plane flew to international destinations like Jeddah, Dubai, and Riyadh.
In a second case, checks were overdue for more than three months for an Airbus A319 that was used for domestic flights. In a third case, the inspection of an aircraft was two days late.
Also Read: Ahmedabad plane crash: Air India pledges safety overhaul
The DGCA report said that the above cases indicated that “aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements”.
‘Very serious issue’
A former legal expert at the government’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Vibhuti Singh told the news agency that checks on escape slides are a very serious issue, and that it could lead to serious injuries if they don’t open in case of accidents.
The airline itself admitted that in one of the cases, the issue came to light when one of its engineers “inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance”.
Also Read: Ahmedabad flight crash: Why Tata, DGCA are at fault
The report from the aviation regulator also said that Air India failed to submit timely compliance responses to deficiencies raised by the former, which further evidenced “weak procedural control and oversight”.
‘Accelerating verification’: Air India
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson had said last year that the shortage of parts for airplanes globally was affecting most airlines, and that the problem was Air India was “more acute” since many of its planes were older and had “not been refreshed since they were delivered in 2010-2011.
The Tata Group acquired Air India from the Indian government in 2022.
Also Read: Air India to cut international widebody flights by 15 pc till mid-July
Air India, in a statement, said that it was “accelerating verification of all maintenance records, including dates of the escape slides”, and would complete the process in the coming days.