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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Tuesday said that it found several lapses, including instances of the reappearance of previously reported defects on aircraft and non-adherence to proper work order, during surveillance conducted at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai.
The civil aviation regulator had on June 19 ordered an assessment of the aviation sector to strengthen safety measures. This came after the plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, which killed 275 persons.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that two of its teams “carried out comprehensive surveillance during night and early morning hours at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai”.
It said that several critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic control, communication, navigation and surveillance systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations were examined.
The civil aviation regulator said that it found several cases where “reported defects re-appeared many times on the aircraft, indicating the ineffective monitoring and inadequate rectification action on the defects/repeated defects”.
The equipment used on the ground such as baggage trollies and Bulk Freight Loaders were found to be unserviceable, the statement said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation flagged instances of thrust reverser systems being found unserviceable, and flap slat levers not being locked.
A thrust reverser system on an aircraft redirects the exhaust of its engines to create a reverse thrust, helping the plane slow down after landing. The flap slat lever controls the operation of the leading edge slats and trailing edge flaps on an aircraft, which are used to increase lift and drag.
The civil aviation regulator said that during maintenance, safety precautions were found to be not taken by the aircraft maintenance engineer as per the aircraft maintenance manual. “Defect reports generated by the aircraft system, were not found recorded in the technical logbook,” it added.
Several life vests were not properly secured beneath their designated seats, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said, adding that “the corrosion-resistant tape on the right-hand side winglet’s lower blade was found to be damaged”.
It also said that the centre line marking of a runway was faded at an airport and the rapid exit taxiway, green centre lights were not unidirectional. “The obstruction limitation data has not been updated for last three years and no survey has been performed despite many new constructions around the vicinity of aerodrome,” the civil aviation regulator added.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation also said that a number of vehicles in the ramp area were found without speed governors, which are devices designed to control and limit their speed. These vehicles were withdrawn and drivers suspended, it added.
A simulator was checked and found to not match the aircraft configuration, the authority said.
In another case, a domestic flight of a scheduled carrier was cancelled due to worn out tyres. It was released only after the required rectification was carried out, it said.
“All the findings observed during the surveillance have been communicated to the concerned operators for taking necessary corrective actions within seven days,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said, adding that the surveillance would continue to detect hazards in the system.
Air India crash
Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, which was en route to London’s Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad, crashed just 33 seconds after taking off on June 12. This is being viewed as the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
There were 242 persons aboard the aircraft. One passenger survived with “impact injuries”.
Thirty-four persons were also killed on the ground after the plane crashed into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College and Hospital in Ahmedabad, according to Air India.
Following the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that it had conducted checks on Air India’s Boeing 787 aircraft fleet, adding that it did not reveal major safety concerns.
The civil aviation regulator also ordered Air India to remove three officials, including a senior executive part of the flight operations department, from all roles related to crew rostering. The action was initiated for “systemic failures” and “multiple violations concerning flight crew being scheduled and operated despite lapses in licensing, rest, and recency requirements”, its order said.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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