After AI crash, DGCA tightens protocols for defect reporting

Months after Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in Ahmedabad, claiming 260 lives, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has hardened the defect-reporting and airworthiness oversight regime, signalling that long-standing operational gaps in how airlines record, flag and act on technical snags can no longer be tolerated. The updated Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) draft regulation, rooted in Aircraft Rule 133A, brings sharper accountability to operators and maintenance organisations across the board, underlining that systemic lapses, not isolated failures, remain a pressing safety concern.

While Rule 60 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, has always prohibited an aircraft from taking off if it has “suffered any damage or revealed any defect… which would render the aircraft unsafe for flight”, the regulator is now drawing attention to repeated shortcomings in compliance. The CAR stresses that every operator must demonstrate a clear, documented chain of defect recording, investigation and rectification, a discipline that recent events have shown is far from uniform.

What's a “major defect” under DGCA rules

– Fires during flight; false fire warnings

– Engine exhaust issues causing damage in flight

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– Smoke, vapour or toxic fumes entering cockpit or cabin

– Engine shutdown in flight (flameout, damage, FOD, icing)

– Multiple engine shutdowns in flight

– Propeller feathering or overspeed control issues

– Fuel or fuel-dumping system faults causing hazardous leaks

– Landing gear extension/retraction or door malfunctions in flight

– Brake failures leading to loss of braking while taxiing

– Structural damage needing significant repair

– Structural cracks, deformation or corrosion beyond limits

– Any defect forcing emergency action in flight (other than engine shutdown)

– Flight interruptions, diversions or aircraft change due to mechanical issues

– Engines removed prematurely due to malfunction (by type/model)

– Propeller featherings in flight (by engine/propeller type)

What revised guidelines say

All scheduled airlines, non-scheduled operators, aerial work operators and flying clubs are required to capture every defect in the aircraft and log it for investigation

Defects that are major must be reported immediately to Regional Airworthiness Office. Investigations into major defects must be completed “at the earliest” 

Records of all defects and rectification must be preserved for a year, while components linked to major defects must be retained for at least two weeks or longer

The revised framework redefines critical thresholds. A “major defect” is any fault that “reduces the safety of the aircraft or its occupants”, while a “repetitive defect” is now explicitly framed as any fault recurring three times within 15 flight cycles despite attempted rectification. The intent is to push operators to stop relying on short-term fixes and instead identify root causes before they escalate into operational hazards.

As per draft, accessed by The Tribune, every defect, “including those occurred due to improper maintenance practices”, must be captured either by flight crew or engineering teams, and logged for investigation. The responsibility applies to all scheduled airlines, non-scheduled operators, private aircraft, state aircraft, aerial work operators, flying clubs and approved maintenance organisations (AMOs).

Defects that are major, serious or “attracting public attention” must be reported immediately over telephone to the Regional Airworthiness Office and followed by a written report within 72 hours. Each recorded fault, whether major or otherwise, must feed into the operator’s component and system reliability indices, a key measure for tracking the health of fleets.

The CAR mandates daily reviews for scheduled operators, requiring experienced technical personnel to examine defect logs and verify whether rectification has been adequate. For others, periodicity will be fixed in consultation with the RAWO, depending on fleet size and type of operation.

For scheduled airlines, any mechanical delay of 15 minutes or more must be treated as a reportable event and investigated under the supervision of senior technical personnel in the Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation. Investigations into major defects must be completed “at the earliest possible” and, if they extend beyond a month, progress updates must be sent to the Regional Airworthiness Office. The CAR reminds operators that the objective is to “avoid recurrence of defects”, although disciplinary action may be taken where defects stem from “careless and casual attitude or…wilful negligence”.

As per significant occurrences, including primary structural failure, control system failure, engine structural failure, fire on board or any condition posing an imminent safety hazard, must be reported immediately to the DGCA, the State of Registry (if applicable) and the manufacturer or type-design organisation. Operators and AMOs must also share service-difficulty information with manufacturers within three days to support continuous design assessment.

The CAR strengthens the requirement for data-driven oversight. Scheduled operators must submit monthly fleet-performance and engineering statistics capturing premature component removals, in-flight shutdowns (including flame-outs), abortive take-offs and delay indicators. Others must file similar reports quarterly. These datasets will feed into the DGCA’s reliability monitoring.

Records of all defects and associated rectification must be preserved for one year, while components linked to major defects must be retained for at least two weeks or longer if required by airworthiness authorities.