AI might try to get safety chief back

Government carrier Air India (AI) might request the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to reconsider its order removing A S Soman from the post of its flight safety chief.

Soman, appointed in January, was removed on Friday on charges that he had failed to preserve the Digital Flight Data Recording for the mandated period.

“The airline received the DGCA order only on Friday. The management will discuss the issue (of the flight safety chief’s removal) on Monday and take a call accordingly,” a senior AI official said, adding, the aviation regulator might be requested to review its order.

According to regulatory norms, a scheduled airline has to monitor data for every flight and this should be kept in the records for six months.

DGCA’s approval is mandatory for appointment of an airline’s safety head. The post of safety chief in the government-owned airline is of the level of a director.

DGCA had sought data for all AI flights to Leh between May 23 and June 25 and its Bengaluru-Hyderabad flight (AI 513) of June 28. A passenger had complained about AI 513 having had a hard touchdown in Hyderabad, after which it took off again. Soman, however, reportedly failed to provide the data, contending that the engineering department, which downloads it, had not sent it to the safety department. The aviation regulator found the reply unsatisfactory and removed Soman from the post.