NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended two GoAir pilots who landed a Nagpur-Bengaluru flight on November 11 even as they lost the “visual reference” 50 ft before touch down. The crew considered wrong visual reference as the centre line of the runway and consequently, manoeuvred the Go Air Airbus A320NEO (VT-WGR) to one side of the runway at Bengaluru airport, a senior DGCA official said, terming it as a ‘serious incident’.
After issuing a show cause notice, the aviation regulator suspended the commander and first officer of the flight for three and six months, respectively. A DGCA investigation revealed that the flight crew continued to land after losing visual reference at about 50 ft over Bengaluru, violating the mandatory civil aviation requirements.
“The crew considered wrong visual reference as runway centreline and manoeuvred the aircraft to the left of Runway 9,” the official said, adding that the co-pilot “failed to give callout for deviation.”Recently, the DGCA had issued notices to the low-cost airline for overworking more than 150 pilots, violating a mandatory Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL). The regulator has set such limitations in order to prevent fatigue among pilots and flight attendants as it can potentially cause safety issues in the air.