DGCA suspends Air India flight safety chief for lapses

New Delhi, September 21

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Thursday said it had suspended Tata Group-owned Air India’s flight safety chief Rajeev Gupta for one month for certain lapses.

Besides, the regulator has directed the airline not to assign any audits, surveillance and spot checks to an auditor due to lack of diligence in work.

On July 25 and 26, the regulator’s team had carried out surveillance of Air India in the areas of internal audit, accident prevention work and availability of required technical manpower.

The surveillance found deficiencies in the accident prevention work carried out by the organisation and the availability of the requisite technical manpower as required in the approved flight safety manual and the relevant civil aviation requirements, the DGCA said in a release.

“We acknowledge and accept the DGCA’s finding, and regret the failure of one of our audit staff to fully comply with the process and documentation requirements,” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.