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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EC dismisses scope for wrongdoing at strongrooms; prohibitory orders around Kolkata counting centres
Kolkata (PTI): A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spent hours at the EVM strongroom of her Bhabanipur constituency alleging possibilities of malpractices, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal on Friday asserted there is no scope for wrongdoing at the counting centres.
Following tensions around two counting centres in Kolkata late on Thursday, police clamped prohibitory orders on gatherings outside all seven strongrooms in the city.
Stating that round-the-clock CCTV monitoring of strongrooms was in place, Agarwal dismissed the allegations as "baseless".
TMC spokesperson and Beleghata constituency candidate Kunal Ghosh said that party workers and poll aspirants were keeping a strict vigil at the counting centres, where the EVMs are stored in strongrooms, upon directions of party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
"There is no scope for any wrongdoing given the arrangements made to secure the EVMs. The Centres have been kept under thorough CCTV coverage and their live-streamed footage can be seen from outside," Agarwal told reporters.
"One should have reason and evidence for making allegations," he said, maintaining that there were no grounds for levelling charges of EVM tampering or pre-counting malpractice.
Two counting centres in Kolkata witnessed high drama late on Thursday evening after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
Mamata Banerjee herself landed up at the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre and stayed put there for about four hours. She emerged from the premises past midnight and warned against any attempts to tamper with the counting process, demanding greater transparency.
TMC leaders and candidates Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents.
Matters came to a head after a large number of supporters from both TMC and BJP camps gathered outside the venue, shouting slogans till they were dispersed by security forces.
The EC, however, dismissed the claim, clarifying that poll officials were engaged in the task of segregating postal ballots as per due process and the strongrooms remained secure, asserting all political parties for the mandatory segregation activity were duly notified.
On Friday, Kolkata Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS around all seven designated strong rooms in the city.
As per the order issued by Police Commissioner Ajay Nand, the restrictions prohibited the assembly of five or more persons within a 200-metre radius of each strongroom, along with a ban on processions, demonstrations, and carrying of weapons or explosive materials.
The measure, which aims to prevent any breach of peace, violence, or disturbance during the storage of ballot papers and polled EVMs, will remain in force until the commencement of counting on May 4.
Besides the two counting centres in question, the prohibitory orders were also clamped around the Hastings House complex, APC Polytechnic College, St. Thomas Boys' High School, Ballygunge Government High School and the David Hare Training College counting premises.
A senior police officer said enhanced security arrangements have been made at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the counting centre for several assembly seats in north and east Kolkata housing EVM strong rooms.
"Additional CAPFs and armed police forces have also been deployed under the supervision of an additional commissioner and a deputy commissioner of police," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kolkata, Rupesh Kumar, told reporters after visiting the area.
Expressing apprehension that unauthorised movements might occur when a section of postal ballots is brought in the evening, Kunal Ghosh said on Friday morning that the party's polling agents and candidates have been alerted about the matter.
Minister Shashi Panja, who also arrived at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in the morning, maintained that "transparency" should be ensured for all strongroom activities.
Ghosh told reporters on Friday that though they had seen some movement in a strongroom that allegedly stored postal ballots, there was no such movement on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Banerjee's challenger at Bhabanipur and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari took a dig at the chief minister for her late-night visit to the counting centre.
"I want to reassure the people of Bhabanipur and of West Bengal that the TMC candidate and outgoing chief minister was prevented from taking any additional advantage. Despite her best intentions to the contrary, she wasn't allowed to act in violation of rules," Adhikari wrote on social media platforms, posting a picture of Banerjee sitting at what appeared to be an area outside the counting centre strong room.
"Till such time she was present there, my election agent, advocate Surjyanil Das personally positioned himself at the spot keeping a tight watch on her so that she isn't able to take recourse to improper means," he added.
Security forces kept a strict vigil in and around counting centres and strongrooms in Kolkata and other districts where EVM machines used in the state assembly elections are stored, an official said.
Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur, which saw high drama till the early hours of Friday with the chief minister spending several hours at the counting centre, wore a peaceful look in the morning with security personnel guarding the area.
