DGCA finds multiple violations in airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance

Aviation watchdog DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has detected multiple violations related to airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance works, and repeated defects in multiple cases during its surveillance at major airports, an exercise carried out in less than two weeks after the deadly Air India plane crash near Ahmedabad airport, which claimed the lives of 241 passengers and crew and 29 people on the ground.

Without disclosing names of the airlines, airports and other entities in relation to the defects, the regulator on Tuesday said surveillance covered multiple critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations.

The surveillance was done last week and DGCA is stepping up efforts to strength the overall safety oversight of the aviation ecosystem.

From a faded centre line marking of a runway at an airport to non-updation of obstruction limitation data for three years to a scheduled carrier's domestic flight being held up owing to worn tyres, the watchdog came across multiple defects in the aviation ecosystem.

Noting that the comprehensive surveillance will continue in future to detect hazards in the aviation ecosystem, the DGCA said the findings have been communicated to the entities concerned for taking corrective actions within seven days.

Two teams led by the joint director-general carried out the surveillance during night and early morning hours at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai.

In a detailed statement about the surveillance findings, DGCA listed multiple cases wherein the reported defects reappeared many times on the aircraft indicating ineffective monitoring and inadequate rectification.

"Ground handling equipment such as baggage trollies... were found unserviceable; Line maintenance stores, tool control procedures were not followed," it said.

During maintenance of aircraft, the work order was not followed, DGCA said and added that the unserviceable thrust reverser system and flap slat lever were not locked.

"During maintenance, safety precautions found not (to have been) taken by AME (Aircraft Maintenance Engineer) as per AMM (Aircraft Maintenance Manual); at places, AME was not attending to the snag rectification; defect reports generated by the aircraft system, were not found recorded in the technical logbook," the statement said.

Also, DGCA found that several life vests were not properly secured beneath their designated seats in aircraft and the corrosion-resistant tape on the right-hand side winglet's lower blade was found to be damaged.

At one airport, the centre line marking of a runway was observed to have faded and the rapid exit taxiway and green centre light were not unidirectional.

The obstruction limitation data was found to have not been updated for the last three years and no survey has been performed despite many new construction around the vicinity of aerodrome, DGCA said. However, the names of the airports were not disclosed.

"A number of vehicles in the ramp area were found without speed governors. These vehicles were withdrawn by cancelling their AVP and drivers' ADP were suspended," the statement said.

Further, the regulator said a simulator was found not matching with the aircraft configuration and that the software was not updated to the current version.

Besides, a domestic flight of a scheduled carrier was held up due to worn tyres and it was released only after the required rectification was done, it added.

DGCA emphasised that it has initiated a focused assessment of the aviation ecosystem to strengthen safety measures across the sector. "Throughout the surveillance, ground activities and aircraft movements were closely monitored to check the compliance of regulatory requirements and to identify weak areas for improvement," the statement said.

In the wake of the crash of the London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 plane soon after take off from Ahmedabad on 12 June, DGCA has also put in place a special audit framework for a '360-degree' evaluation of the country's aviation ecosystem and transcend the current practice of siloed assessment.