NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that the aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has allegedly taken enforcement action against Air India for significant delays in inspecting the emergency slides of some of its aircraft prior to the Ahmedabad plane crash.
He submitted his written response to a question posed by DMK MP Tiruchi N Siva. The MP wanted to know about the action taken against Air India in connection with the violation of safety norms regarding emergency slides on its aircraft. He also sought to know whether any performance audit of DGCA’s enforcement actions had been undertaken in the last five years.
Mohol said, “During the audit of Air India, the DGCA found that the inspection of the emergency slide was overdue. DGCA immediately grounded the aircraft till the required rectification was carried out. It has initiated enforcement action against Air India and the responsible personnel as per the Enforcement Policy and Procedure Manual of DGCA.” The enforcement action consists of warning, suspension, cancellation, including imposition of financial penalty to the airlines/personnel, he added.
An Air India source confirmed that action was taken against some of its aircraft due to the delay in carrying out inspection of emergency slides.
Mohol further said, “DGCA officials are well trained to perform the oversight and enforcement function.” The regulator ensures the compliance by airlines with all safety and maintenance standards through the mechanism of conducting surveillance, spot checks, night surveillance, etc., of the airlines and its personnel.
Mohol also said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) carried out the ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) audit of DGCA in 2022 and the regulator was given a score of 85.65 for effective implementation.
