Air India comes under severe pressure after a July safety review, which revealed 51 major violations, only days after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner accident in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people. The audit itself was not directly connected with the fatal June accident, but its findings have put added strain on the happenings of the Tata Group-owned airline, as issues of safety and control are called into question.
In an 11-page confidential report published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the lapses cites major lapses that include using unauthorised simulators as training tools in pilot training programs, inefficient crew rostering mechanisms, and departures in the mandatory training regimes. The report detailed seven violations considered to be Level I and ranked as the most serious, in which Air India had to respond by July 30. The other 44 non-compliances would be corrected within two weeks by August 23.
Lapses in training of Boeing 787 and 777 pilots were a major cause of concern, and some of the pilots had not been able to fulfill necessary observational roles through observation in the cockpit before undergoing their periodic tests. This supervision may have dire consequences for the safety of flights, particularly in emergencies.
The audit also noted the poor risk evaluation at difficult airports classified as Category C by the airline; these are what are considered as difficult in terms of terrain or design, about which training has also been said to be run on simulators, which are themselves apparently not qualified. Such a deficiency may hinder the preparedness of pilots to make landings and difficult approaches.
Moreover, the DGCA pointed out the cases of breaking the flight-duty rules. In one of the cases, a Boeing 787 operated a Milan-New Delhi flight and surpassed both the duty times by more than two hours, which was a Level I violation.
Air India has reacted by saying it was transparent enough in the course of the audit, and it will give details of the remedial plan to the DGCA. In the meantime, an early investigation into the June crash showed the confusion in the cockpit, where the pilots accidentally threw fuel control switches, causing the fatal crash.
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