Aviation watchdog DGCA slaps Rs 80 lakh penalty on Air India for flight duty norm violations
New Delhi, Mar 22: Aviation regulator DGCA on Friday imposed an Rs 80 lakh penalty on Air India for violations of flight duty and fatigue management norms, including failure to provide adequate rest to flight crew before and after ultra-long haul flights.
This is at least the third time in less than two months that Tata Group-owned Air India has been fined by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The latest penalty also comes at a time when the DGCA has decided not to extend the June 1 deadline for implementing the revised flight duty norms that will provide more rest hours for pilots.
In January, the watchdog conducted a spot audit of Air India to verify the airline's compliance with Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and Fatigue Management System (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 Limited operated flight(s) with both flight crew aged above 60 years flying together in a few instances.
"...the operator was also found deficient in providing adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before & after ultra-long range flights and adequate rest on layover to the flight crew, which violates the extant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements pertaining to FDTL," the regulator said in a release.
Generally, ultra-long-haul flights are those having a duration of more than 16 hours. Air India operates such flights to destinations in Canada and the US.
Further, the DGCA on Friday said there were instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records and overlapping duties.
On March 1, the watchdog issued a show cause notice to Air India with respect to the violations.
"The operator submitted its response to the show cause notice which was not found satisfactory. Pursuant to the non-satisfactory response submitted by the operator, a fine of Rs 80,00,000 has been imposed on the operator," the release said.
Having both cockpit crew members or pilots aged above 60 years in a flight violates Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.
"No person holding a pilot's licence issued under these rules and having attained the age of sixty years shall act as Pilot-in-Command or Co-pilot of an aircraft engaged in commercial air transport operations unless it is operated in a multi-crew environment and the other pilot is less than sixty years of age," as per the rule.
Earlier this month, the DGCA said it would not be extending the June 1 deadline for implementing the revised flight duty norms for pilots.
The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), comprising Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo, had written at least twice to the regulator, seeking more time for implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms issued on January 8.
The new norms, to come into force from June 1, provide for rest time for pilots and seek to alleviate pilot fatigue.
In a recent communication to the FIA, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that airlines have to take all necessary steps to roll out the revised FDTL CAR, with effect from June 1, 2024.
"The CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) provisions may appear either restrictive or liberal, depending on its direct impact on the viewing entity, and differing perceptions may be formed when viewed from the eyes of either the airline operators or the pilots.
"While perceptions may vary, DGCA is primarily concerned in ensuring safe operations and practices that are best suited to the unique operating environment prevailing in India," the DGCA had said.
In less than two months, the DGCA has imposed fines on Air India thrice, including the latest action.
On February 29, the regulator DGCA slapped a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for the incident where an 80-year-old passenger collapsed and later died after walking from the plane to the terminal at the Mumbai airport after not getting a wheelchair.
Prior to that, the DGCA, on January 24, imposed a penalty of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India for safety violations with respect to operations of its leased Boeing 777 planes to the US.
On January 17, the watchdog slapped a fine of Rs 30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet for lapses in rostering of pilots for operating flights in low visibility conditions.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
