DGCA imposes Rs 80 lakh fine on Air India for flight duty timing violations

New Delhi: India's aviation regulator, DGCA, has imposed a financial penalty of Rs 80 lakh on the Tata-owned Air India for violation of flight duty time limitations (FDTL) and fatigue management system (FMS) regulations of flight crews.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as a proactive step towards ensuring a high level of safety in aviation, it conducted a spot audit of Air India Ltd in January this year to verify the regulatory compliance by the operator in respect of FDTL and FMS regulations.

During the audit, evidence was collected and fleet-wise random reports were analysed.

"The analysis of reports and evidence revealed that Air India Ltd operated flight(s) with both flight crew aged above 60 years flying together in a few instances, which is a violation of Sub Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937," DGCA Director General Vikram Dev Dutt said.

He also said that the operator was also found deficient in providing adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before & after ultra-long range (ULR) flights, and adequate rest on layover to the flight crew, which violates the extant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements on FDTL.

Moreover, instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records, overlapping duties etc. were also observed during the audit.

A show cause notice was issued to Air India Ltd on March 1 for submitting a response to the observed violations. "The operator submitted its response to the SCN which was not found satisfactory. Pursuant to the non-satisfactory response submitted by the operator, a fine of Rs 80 lakh has been imposed on the operator," Dutt added.