Air India execs who let plane with expired licence fly de-rostered: DGCA

The airline's 164-seater Airbus A320 aircraft, with an expired airworthiness review certificate (ARC), flew eight times on November 24 and 25

Air India executives, who were involved in letting a plane with expired airworthiness licence operate eight commercial flights, have been de-rostered from the service till the probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is complete, the regulator said on Tuesday.

 

The airline's 164-seater Airbus A320 plane, with an expired airworthiness review certificate (ARC), flew eight times on November 24-25. In a statement, the regulator explained how this entire serious safety lapse actually took place.

 

The DGCA stated it has instituted an investigation and instructed the operator to ground the aircraft.

 

“The ARC process is in progress. Concerned personnel have been de-rostered with immediate effect pending investigation. Air India on the instructions of DGCA is carrying out an internal investigation to identify deficiencies in their system and put corrective measures in place to prevent such failures from occurring in future,” it added.

   

“Under the delegated authority (CAMO), Air India issues Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) in respect of aircraft it operates. ARC is issued annually in respect of an aircraft after a comprehensive review of its maintenance records, physical condition and verification of compliance with all airworthiness standards. It acts as a validation of the aircraft's main Certificate of Airworthiness (C of A),” the DGCA said.

 

The Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) within Air India issues ARC annually to keep the C of A alive.

 

When Vistara was merged into Air India in 2024, it was decided that the first post-merger ARC of all 70 planes of Vistara will be reviewed and renewed by the regulator itself and not by the delegated authority within Air India, it noted.

 

“Till date, ARC for all the sixty-nine aircraft has been issued by the DGCA after satisfactory compliance by the operator. In respect of the 70th aircraft, the operator filed an application with the DGCA and subsequently the aircraft was grounded for engine change. During this period, the ARC expired. However, the aircraft was released for service after engine change,” the regulator mentioned.

 

The plane was used to operate eight flights between November 24 and 25. On November 26, the airline informed the DGCA about the flying of the aircraft with the expired ARC on the “eight revenue sectors”.

 

On June 12, Air India's AI171 flight, which was heading to London, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground, with only one survivor. About 81 people were injured on the ground.