In a large-scale act of crackdown of safety issues after the recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad which has killed at least 271 people, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has found major safety infringements in major Indian airports. Falling short of the ground scenario, the aviation regulator made surprise night and early morning surveillance checks at airports in Delhi and Mumbai that were revealed to have several systemic faults in the fields of aircraft maintenance, ground handling, and airport facilities.
One of the most thorough safety audits, conducted in the years, the intensified one was initiated June 19, only several days after the tragedy crash. The same level of inspection is already on planning among the Hyderabad and Kolkata airports as part of the country wide check-up auditing.
The DGCA observed dangerous slack maintenance habits in aircrafts. It had already been reported that Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs) were not performing desired safety checks. Technical logbooks lacked defect reports made by the aircraft systems and in most of the instances, life vests were not fixed under passenger seats adequately. Routine maintenance was not done based on regular work orders and important parts such as thrust reversers and flap slat levers were not secured, a fact that causes major operational risks.
They also rest under faulted ground operations. Line maintenance facilities did not have best systems of controlling tools and baggage trolleys were not in good condition. On the airport structure level, the investigators also identified the wearing of runway centerline markings, and inactive taxiway lights, which might have interfered with the visibility of pilots upon takeoff and landing.
There was another significant lapse in that the obstruction limitation data, which was used in the evaluation of the risks of collision with nearby construction, was not updated within more than three years, although constructions were made in airport vicinity areas. There were also various vehicles that use sensitive areas of the ramp zones without speed governments; and their permits were canceled, and the airside licenses of the drivers were revoked in the same line.
Moreover, mismatched deficient pilot training simulators that were outdated were singled out and this brought about concerns over the readiness of the pilots. The DGCA has also told all the stakeholders to correct the violations in a period of seven days.
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