DGCA committee may conclude graft probe against senior official in a week

A vigilance committee established by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is expected to wrap up its preliminary investigation into allegations of corruption against a senior official within a week, sources privy to the development said on Sunday.

It has been alleged that Anil Gill, Director of the Flying and Training Division at the DGCA, misused his authority to obtain three aircraft as bribes from flying schools.

He is also said to have leased these aircraft to other flying schools in exchange for more favorable audit outcomes. On October 27, the DGCA transferred Gill to another division.

"While the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines allow the committee a three-month window for preliminary investigation, it is anticipated that the probe will be expedited and concluded within a week. Furthermore, the regulator is open to involving an external agency if deemed necessary by the committee," one of the sources stated.

Another source explained that the decision to engage an external agency will depend on the committee's recommendations.

"If the committee determines that certain complex aspects require investigation by an external agency, the DGCA will entrust the investigation to that agency," the second source clarified.

On October 23, the DGCA suspended operations at Redbird Flight Training Academy, one of India’s largest flight schools, across all five of its training bases in the country. This suspension was done as the institute's planes were involved in five accidents in the past six months.

On October 27, the regulator transferred Gill to the Aerosports division.

The DGCA on October 23 announced that it would conduct an audit of Redbird's maintenance practices and proficiency checks of the institute’s flight instructors before allowing it to resume operations.

"These occurrences indicate a gap in maintenance and operational elements," the DGCA had said in a statement.

According to sources, this audit is currently ongoing at all its five bases.

Redbird boasts a fleet of approximately 40 aircraft and reportedly plans to add another 20 planes by the end of March next year. In October alone, two of the academy’s training aircraft crashed in Baramati near Pune.

On October 19, one person suffered minor injuries after a training aircraft experienced an engine-related snag and loss of power, leading to a crash.

In another incident on October 22, two occupants of a training aircraft sustained injuries after the plane made an emergency landing due to a loss of power.

Under Scanner

October 19: Minor injuries reported as a Redbird training aircraft crashed due to engine-related issues

October 22: Two occupants injured in a Redbird training aircraft's emergency landing due to power loss

October 23: DGCA suspends operations at Redbird Flight Training Academy's all five training bases

October 27: Anil Gill, DGCA's Director of the Flying and Training Division, transferred to Aerosports division