India’s aviation safety regulator found multiple aircraft-maintenance lapses in an audit of airlines and airports ordered af
ter the crash of Air India flight AI171, including recurring defects that indicate inadequate monitoring and correction.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation also found unserviceable
ground-handling equipment such as baggage trolleys in its surveill
ance of airports in New Delhi and Mumbai, as well as maintenance proc
edures such as tool controls and work-order instructions that weren’t being followed.
“All the findings observed during the surveillance have been communicated to the concerned operators for takin
g necessary corrective actions within seven days,” the regulator said in a statement.
The findings point to an aviation safety culture that hasn’t kept up with the industry’s rapid growth in India. Am
ong the failings: Aircraft maintenance engineers ignored safety precautions and reported snags to be rectified, and defec
t reports generated by the aircraft system weren’t being recorded in technical logbooks.
One domestic flight had to be held due to worn tires observed by the inspectors, while a flight simulator at one fac
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ility wasn’t set up to match with the aircraft’s configuration, and its software hadn’t been updated to the current version.
The surveillance — part of the special audit announced after the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad — covered flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic cont
rol, communication, navigation and surveillance systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations, the DGCA said.
All but one of the 242 people onboard the Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner died, as well as several dozen on the ground after
it crashed into the student hostel of a medical college.
Read more: ‘I Got Up and Ran’: How One Man Survived Plane Crash That Killed 241
The DGCA said that at one of the two airports — it didn’t say which — obstruction-limitation data hadn’t been updated f
or three years, and no survey has been performed despite significant new c
onstruction near the airport. Since the Ahmedabad crash, India has proposed a law to demolish buildings that exceed height regulations.