Air India Slapped with Rs 99 Lakh Fine for Flying with Unqualified Pilots

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a hefty penalty of Rs 90 lakh on Air India Ltd for operating a flight with non-qualified crew members.

The penalty comes in addition to fines of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh on the airline's director of operations and director of training, respectively.

The issue arose when a flight was operated with a non-trainer line captain and a non-line-released first officer. The discrepancy was reported voluntarily by Air India in a report submitted to the DGCA on July 10, 2024. The regulator deemed the scheduling error a serious safety risk.

A comprehensive DGCA investigation into Air India's operations, which included a review of documentation and a spot check of the airline’s scheduling facility, uncovered multiple regulatory violations and deficiencies that raised safety concerns.

Despite explanations from the involved flight commander and DGCA-approved post holders, the responses were deemed inadequate by the regulator.

This latest action is part of a series of regulatory penalties against the Tata group-owned airline. Earlier this year, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to Air India over inadequate cabin cooling during delays on two flights.

In March, the airline was fined Rs 80 lakh for breaches related to flight duty time limitations, and in February, it incurred a Rs 30 lakh fine for mishandling a passenger who subsequently died of a heart attack. In January, Air India faced a Rs 30 lakh fine for having insufficient pilots for low-visibility landings.

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