NEW DELHI: Aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has issued a show cause notice to Indigo on Tuesday (Aug 11) on lapses pertaining to simulator training for nearly 1,700 pilots in connection with a few specific airports which have challenging terrain and different runway conditions, a source said.
Air India Express had also recently received a similar notice in connection with the simulator training it offered for the Calicut International Airport.
Indigo has been given a deadline of 15 days to respond to it, the source added. Critical airfield training or C category training rendered to pilots on regular simulators would not be suitable for the airports of Kathmandu, Leh and Calicut because of the complicated terrain involved which require precise approaches, the source said.
An Indigo spokesperson said, “We confirm receipt of a show-cause notice issued by the DGCA pertaining to simulator training of some of our pilots. We are in the process of reviewing the same and will respond to the regulator within the stipulated timeline. We remain committed to ensuring the highest standards of safety and compliance across our operations.”
An Air India Express source confirmed the receipt of a DGCA notice over the same issue recently. Claiming that he was not aware of the specific number of pilots who were mentioned in the notice, the source said, “This is in connection with our training for the Calicut airport which has a table-top runway. The simulators used for training so far are all DGCA-approved ones. So far, we have never been informed that simulators are different for different airports. This is something new for us.”
Air India got a notice in July this year in connection with a pilot who flew in April from Kathmandu airport, which has a high-altitude table top runway. He was not provided the mandatory special simulator training required for it.
Airlines make use of common simulators for training pilots. Among those who operate them are private centres in Gurgaon and Mumbai, which have the DGCA approval to train pilots, said an airline source.