NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed the Rajya Sabha that airlines in India reported a total of 1,244 technical defects in aircraft over the past three years. In 2025 alone, 353 defects were recorded, following 421 in 2024 and 470 in 2023.
Mohol provided the data in response to an unstarred parliamentary query on the number of aircraft operating without Flight Data Recorders (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) in the country.
He also disclosed that 285 passengers were placed on the ‘No Fly’ list across various Indian airlines during the same period. In 2025, 93 unruly passengers were listed, while 82 were listed in 2024 and 110 in 2023.
Regarding aircraft without FDR or CVR, Mohol said, “Aircraft operated by Non-Scheduled Operator’s Permit (NSOP) / General Aviation (GA) operators which are not equipped with FDR or CVR are 176.” He added that aircraft with a take-off weight under 5,700 kilograms are required to have CVRs only if they received an airworthiness certificate on or before 1 January 2016.
Mohol also reported that one aircraft each of Air India and Air India Express violated airworthiness certificate requirements. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took regulatory action, including suspending the respective aircraft engineers for three months.