With airlines reporting multiple technical malfunction incidents, aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that there is an insufficient number of engineering personnel certifying planes of various carriers before their departure. Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). The DGCA has now issued guidelines for airlines on the deployment of AME personnel and directed them to comply by July 28.
'Just because of my background and poor academic qualifications, most people disbelieve what I have done.'
Of the 14 people aboard the plane, including the pilot, eight sustained minor injuries and were treated in a local health centre.
In an unprecedented action, Indian aviation regulator DGCA has directed low-cost airline Spicejet to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks. This follows an unusually high number of incidents involving the airline, raising safety concerns. The curtailment of capacity is unlikely to have any commercial impact on the airline owned by entrepreneur Ajay Singh. SpiceJet already operates less than 50 per cent of the flights it had filed for the summer schedule.
Shares of low-cost airline IndiGo hit record high on the bourses soon after reports of pilot crisis at Vistara emerged. The development also saw airfares surge by around 25 per cent on select routes. Shares of IndiGo hit a lifetime high of ~3,68.5 on April 2, 2024, and has gained 2.4 per cent on the bourses in April.
SpiceJet is the only Boeing 737 MAX operator in India, with 13 aircraft of the type in its fleet and a total of 205 planes on order.
Indian aviation regulator DGCA has barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating the Boeing 737 Max aircraft after finding them not properly trained. "For the moment, we have barred these pilots from flying the Max and they have to retrain successfully for flying the aircraft," DGCA chief Arun Kumar said in a statement. He also said that the regulator will take "strict action against those found responsible for the lapse."
'For the moment, we have barred these pilots from flying the Max and they have to retrain successfully for flying the aircraft,' DGCA chief Arun Kumar said in a statement.
Some flights of Kingfisher, GoAir, JetLite and Jet Airways operated during the 'curfew hours' from April 4 to April 30 -- from 9 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM till 7 PM--in the past few days when the vital ground navigational aids were switched off for repair and maintenance.
In its ongoing drive to cleanse the system of unqualified pilots, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked all airlines to monitor the hiring and training of co-pilots in a more effective manner and to file a monthly report on this.
An airline official said the ban is with immediate effect and is in addition to the 30-day ban it had imposed on the individual earlier.
Aviation regulator DGCA has allowed IndiGo to wet lease wide-body Boeing planes from Turkish Airlines for up to six months and has rejected the domestic carrier's request for leasing the aircraft for up to two years, according to sources. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) turned down the request of the country's largest airline to wet lease the aircraft for a longer period, citing that the move could become diversion of traffic rights in collusion with a strong foreign carrier that will mainly feed the latter's hub abroad with more passengers from India, the sources said. IndiGo, which currently has only narrow-body planes in its fleet, decided to lease wide-body aircraft to operate more flights on international routes to meet rising demand.
Earlier this month, Air India issued show cause notices to the Pilot-in-Command and four crew members of the flight and derostered them pending investigation.
The sources said that during the boarding, the male passenger behaved in an unruly manner and touched the female cabin crew member inappropriately.
SpiceJet apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passenger and will also provide a full refund. As the passenger kept waiting in the lavatory, a cabin crew slipped in a note asking the passenger not to panic and that despite trying their best, the door could not be opened.
The two pilots of a helicopter, which flew Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, were on Wednesday given a virtual clean chit by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, during a preliminary probe into the alleged violation of air safety rules that fuelled a controversy involving the Congress leader.The pilots of the state-run Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, who appeared before the DGCA's Air Safety Wing in New Delhi, were cleared by a probe panel.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered a probe into the near mishap in which 121 people on board an Air India plane had a miraculous escape when the aircraft's tail hit the runway in Mumbai while landing at high speed.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed a plea to implead DGCA as a party to a PIL seeking quashing of approvals being granted by the Centre to operationalise the $30 million deal between Tata Sons and Malaysia-based AirAsia.
The incident which took place on Friday came close on the heels of two mid-air urinating incidents on the international flights of Tata Group-run private carrier Air India late last year.
Jet Airways has also been asked to provide details of the pilots who are "habitual" of reporting sick and disrupting the airline's schedule, an official said.
According to e-mails accessed by ANI, the Air India cabin crew supervisor had reportedly sent out emails on November 27 at around 1 pm to the head of the Inflight Service Department (IFSD), base operations in India, Lead HR head of IFSD, and head of the northern region of IFSD and of complaints (customer care), informing them about the incident.
In a written reply, Singh said the 5G C-band spectrum has the likelihood of interfering with the current radio altimeters installed on the aircraft.
The suspension of scheduled international passenger flights in the country has been extended "till further orders", aviation regulator DGCA said on Monday.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered a probe into the incident.
"We are visiting Mumbai airport and will also be meeting ATC officials on Tuesday as part of our probe," an official associated with the eight-member probe team said. The team will probe Monday's incident involving a chopper from President Pratibha Patil's fleet that had landed on the same runway, which a Delhi-bound aircraft with 150 passengers on board was using to take off.
Terming SpiceJet's offer of rupee one fare across its domestic network as "predatory" and a "malpractice", aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday came down heavily on the no-frill carrier and asked it to stop such pricing immediately.
In recent times, there have been various incidents of unruly passengers onboard domestic and international flights.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident of an Air India flight, AI 123, from New Delhi to Rome losing radio contact over Italy on October 16.
The suspension of scheduled international passenger flights in the country has been extended till February 28, aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday.
DGCA report shows IndiGo's continued dominance in market share with 30.7%, followed by SpiceJet at 20.9%.
In the short video clip, other crew members could be seen shouting at the passenger after he hit the pilot.
Days after its recent downgrade by the US aviation regulator, DGCA has set up two dedicated technical teams for surprise inspections on the aircraft of foreign airlines and charter firms and carry out extensive safety checks.
SpiceJet urges HC to direct DGCA not to deregister its planes.
Aviation regulator DGCA has asked Tata Group-owned Air India to repair its aircraft after a passenger complained on social media on Monday about the plane's shabby interiors, including a broken armrest, officials said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last Wednesday grounded a SpiceJet aircraft over a passenger's complaint of dirty seats and malfunctioning cabin panels. The SpiceJet plane took to the skies a day later after all the suggested repairs were effected.
AirAsia India, which is using the training facilities of its parent airline AirAsia in Malaysia, plans to set up similar facilities in India in the coming years, airline sources said.
AirAsia is facing a legal challenge from Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy, whose petition comes up for hearing at the Delhi HIgh Court on Wednesday.
The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last week imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the airline for denying boarding to a specially abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.
The precaution was made compulsory after a incident.
A three-member technical team of the FAA carried out the second round of audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to check whether corrective steps have been taken to resolve 33 deficiencies the US agency had highlighted during the first round in September.
Around 200 pilots of Go First, the cash-strapped airline that suspended operations on May 2, have joined Air India. As many as 75 of them started training with the Tata-owned airline on Monday. As Go First tries to salvage its operations, it has announced additional pay or retention allowance of Rs 100,000 and Rs 50,000 for captains and first officers, respectively, with effect from June 1.
