DGCA to check airlines' flight monitoring quality

As per norms, airlines have to monitor data for every flight

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will conduct surprise checks of all airlines to make sure they are fully monitoring flight data, sources said.

“We have taken permission from the directorate general to conduct one-time surprise surveillance of all the airlines. We have to check whether the mandatory Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) monitoring is being conducted by the airlines,” said a DGCA official, on condition of anonymity.

The move comes after an runway incident involving Air India's Bangalore-Hyderabad flight on June 28, when the pilot touched down but immediately took off again without stopping. 

According to the norms, a scheduled airline has to monitor data for every flight, which has to be preserved for six months.

In the case involving he AI flight, the DGCA has issued a showcause notice to the airline's chief of air safety Captain AS Soman, these sources said.

According to DGCA's inquiry, the pilot had reported bad whether but when the agency asked for the data it was found that surveillance had been done for the flight.