On 24th January (Wednesday), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a hefty fine of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India over allegations of safety violations.
DGCA has initiated enforcement action and imposed a penalty of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India over allegations of safety violations of flights operated by Air India on certain long-range terrain critical routes: DGCA pic.twitter.com/f9oOQfx8Fo
— ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2024
The DGCA issued a statement in which it noted that Air India leased a Boeing 777 plane that flew to the US without having the required system of emergency oxygen supply.
The regulatory action on Air India comes after the civil aviation ministry and the DGCA received a complaint from a former senior pilot who was associated with Air India.
The DGCA officials said that the Ministry and DGCA took a complaint filed against Air India by a former senior pilot alleging that the airline operated Boeing 777 planes to the US without having the required system of emergency oxygen supply.
The pilot who is no longer with the airline, had served as a B777 commander. He complained about the practice to the ministry and the DGCA on 29th October.
In a statement, the DGCA said, “Pursuant to the receipt of a voluntary safety report from an airline employee alleging safety violations of flights operated by M/s Air India on certain long-range terrain critical routes, DGCA conducted a comprehensive investigation into the alleged violations.”
The regulator further added, “Since the investigation prima facie revealed non-compliance by the airline, a show cause notice was issued to the Accountable Manager of Air India Limited. The response to the show cause notice was duly examined with respect to the laid down stipulations under the relevant statutory provisions and the performance limits stipulated in critical documentations laid down by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).”
The technical safety standards explained
Notably, most aircraft have cylinders that supply oxygen to overhead masks that are deployed in case of cabin de-pressurisation for a time of about 12-15 minutes per passenger. This time is considered enough for flights to descend to 10,000 feet where the ambient environment is safe for humans. At such an altitude air is supplied from the engine for cooling the aircraft and breathing.
But the scenario changes for aircraft that fly over high mountains as they can descend to 10,000 feet only after they have cleared the range. For this, they need to fly at higher altitudes for a longer duration. For safety purposes, this requires extra cylinders on aircraft to supply oxygen to overhead passenger masks for around 25-30 minutes.
As per Air India’s flight route, AI’s nonstop flights between Delhi and Europe as well as most other North American cities have to fly over the mighty Hindu Kush range. This has to be done to bypass Afghan airspace that has been closed to civilian traffic for over two years.
Reportedly, AI’s old Boeing 777s have an extra oxygen cylinder and they regularly take this route. However, AI recently took more Boeing 777s and they do not have the extra cylinder. They are suitable only to fly between west and south India and North America, that is for those flights that do not fly over the Hindu Kush.
The pilot, in his complaint, claimed that he had refused to operate a leased B777 aircraft for the Air India flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru on 30th January 2023 citing issue with the oxygen system. As per the complaint, the pilot said that he was terminated from the service by the airline three months after he had filed the complaint.
It is important to note that this is the seventh time that DGCA has imposed a fine on Air India in the last 12 months. In the same period, AI has been slapped with a fine of around Rs 2.5 crore for various reasons. This also includes a Rs 10 lakh fine which was imposed last week for failure to comply with rules about facilities that are required to be provided to passengers.
Meanwhile, IndiGo was recently fined Rs 1.20 crore after the passengers of one of its flights came out on the tarmac and started eating food. Following the incident, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had strongly reacted to the incident describing it as “unacceptable”.
Furthermore, earlier this month, DGCA also issued show-cause notices to Air India and SpiceJet. The notices were issued for not deploying pilots trained to operate in low visibility conditions after various flights were diverted amid dense fog at the Delhi airport in late December.
