Harpreet Singh appointed as Air India's safety chief

The post fell vacant after DGCA ordered removal of Captain A S Soman from the post for not preserving flight data after an air safety incident

Directorate General of Civil Aviation has approved the appointment of Harpreet A D Singh as the chief of flight safety in Air India. The post fell vacant after the aviation regulator ordered removal of Captain A S Soman from the post for not preserving flight data after an air safety incident. Air India had requested the DGCA to reconsider its decision on removing Capt Soman from the post.

Singh is the executive director of customer services department in the airline and in charge of inflight services. While Singh has been heading the airline's quality management system and has been involved in operational safety audits, she has had run-ins with the airline's cabin crew on issues of crew complement on flights and safety.

"The approval shall remain valid for the period of one year or till she remains in the employment of Air India and is subject to her undergoing technical performance course on the Boeing 787 type of aicraft," said the order issued by Maneesh Kumar, director of air safety, DGCA.