Mumbai, Dec 02: The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing an incident of Air India operating an Airbus A320 Neo aircraft without a requisite airworthiness certification. According to sources, the aircraft has been grounded and the airline officials involved in allowing the operation have been de-rostered.
The Indian aviation watchdog grounded the A320 aircraft, which was operated on at least eight routes without a requisite Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC). The probe has also resulted in de-rostering of the concerned airline staff till the investigation concludes. Air India had informed DGCA about the expired ARC on November 26, following which the probe was launched.
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 is a validation of an aircraft's main Certificate of Airworthiness (C of A). Under the norms, Air India has been delegated the powers to issue the ARC for an aircraft.
On Tuesday, DGCA issued a statement stating that it has instituted an investigation and instructed the operator to ground the aircraft. It added that the ARC process is in progress, and the personnel concerned have been de-rostered with immediate effect pending investigation.
According to DGCA, the incident involved the erstwhile Vistara aircraft, which awaited the first ARC renewal post-merger of Vistara with Air India. DGCA has issued ARC for 69 aircraft after compliance by Air India, whereas the 70th aircraft was grounded for engine change. “During this period the ARC expired, however, the aircraft was released for service after engine change," the DGCA statement said.
In a statement, Air India regretted the incident and said that it has initiated a comprehensive internal investigation after reporting the incident to DGCA and suspending all the associated personnel.
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“Air India remains unwavering in its commitment to maintaining the highest standards of operational integrity and safety, and any deviation from mandated compliance protocols is treated with utmost seriousness and is unacceptable to the organisation,” said an Air India spokesperson.
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