News Analysis India

Tag: DGCA

  • Air India fined Rs 10 lakh for denying boarding to passenger with tickets 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Air India (AI) for denying boarding to passengers holding valid tickets.

    “After going through AI submissions, as part of enforcement action, the competent authority has levied a penalty of Rs 10 Lakh. In addition, the airline has been advised to immediately put the systems in place to resolve the issue failing which further action shall be taken by DGCA,” the regulator said.

    The action comes following numerous reports of flyers being denied boarding by a slew of airlines despite having valid tickets and showing up on time. Despite guidelines, certain airlines were not following them, the DGCA said after conducting a series of checks at Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi.

    “In the case of Air India — where the regulation is not being followed — a show-cause notice was issued to the Airline and also a personal hearing was afforded. It appears that the airline does not have a policy in this regard and is not paying any compensation to hapless passengers, whose numbers can be anybody’s guess,” the DGCA said.

    Laying down guidelines for denying boarding to a passenger despite a valid ticket, the DGCA said in this case, an airline is able to arrange an alternate flight for the said passenger within an hour, and no compensation needs to be paid.

    However, if the airline provides an alternate arrangement within the next 24 hours, compensation up to Rs 10,000 is prescribed, it added. that for anything beyond 24 hours, compensation up to Rs 20,000 is laid down.

  • Helicopter bounces and turns by 270 degrees while landing at Kedarnath; DGCA begins probe

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A helicopter of Thumby Aviation on May 31 bounced and turned by 270 degrees while landing at Kedarnath helipad, following which aviation regulator DGCA asked the chopper pilots to exercise caution whenever there are tailwinds when they are heading for landing, officials said on Monday.

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started an investigation into this incident, its officials said.

    On May 31, at approximately 1.30 PM, a Bell 407 helicopter belonging to Thumby Aviation Pvt Ltd, while landing at Kedarnath helipad had an uncontrolled, very hard landing, they noted.

    The helicopter had made an unstabilized approach to the helipad, and during the touchdown, the helicopter struck the helipad surface hard, bounced and after having lost direction by about 270 degrees, again settled down hard on the ground, they said.

    The regulator issued an advisory after the incident in which it said “pilots are to exercise caution for the presence of any tailwinds during approaches, especially at Shri Kedarnath helipad”.

    Pilots must take adequate precautions and if the tailwinds or crosswinds are beyond the permissible limits, the approach must be abandoned and the chopper must return to the base, the advisory mentioned.

    The DGCA is investigating the incident and it is planning to conduct a spot check for ensuring safety oversight of these helicopter operations, the officials noted.

  • Covid-19: HC calls for strict action against air passengers violating masking, hygiene norms

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday called for strict action against those found violating masking and hand hygiene norms at airports and in aircraft, observing that the Covid-19 pandemic has not abated and keeps springing up its ugly head.

    The high court said all such persons, who are found to be violating these norms, should be booked and fined and they should be placed on the no-fly list and added that it is essential to introduce sufficient deterrence to enforce compliance of norms.

    It said it is noticed that very often the norms are not implemented on the ground with the seriousness with which they are framed and therefore, it is essential for the authorities, including Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ensure that the implementation on the ground is effected properly.

    “For this purpose, we are of the view that the DGCA should give separate binding directions to all airlines to authorise the staff at airports and in aircraft, including air hostesses, captains, pilots and others to take strict action against passengers and others who violate the masking and hand hygiene norms,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta said.

    The court noted the submission of DGCA’s advocate Anjana Gosain, who herself is inflicted with Covid-19 and appeared through video conferencing, that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued another an order on May 10, calling for strict enforcement of Covid-19 protocol.

    She said the authorities are seriously implementing norms regarding masking at airports and in aircraft by all concerned.

    “The issuance of said order, in our view, is the right step since the pandemic has not abated and keeps springing up its ugly head,” the bench said, adding that guidelines are always in place and it is the practical compliance which becomes a problem and “we falter”. It said let necessary steps be taken and further action taken report be placed before the court and listed the matter for further hearing on July 18.

    The court’s order came in a PIL, registered on the experience of a sitting judge of the high court while travelling by a domestic flight during the pandemic.

    Justice C Hari Shankar had on March 8, 2021, taken suo motu cognisance of the situation after witnessing passengers not wearing masks properly during transportation from airport to the flight and their stubborn reluctance to wear mask properly.

    The court, which had issued various guidelines to the DGCA and airlines for immediate compliance, had said it was constrained to pass the order because of an alarming situation which was witnessed by the judge himself during an Air India flight from Kolkata to New Delhi on March 5, 2021.

    During the hearing, the court observed that people may not wear N-95 masks in flights but they must at least wear a surgical mask as the idea is to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.

    Doctors also wear surgical mask the whole day, the bench said, adding that only at the time of meals the passengers can take off the mask and the moment they finish their meals, they have to wear it again.

    “People violating should be physically removed from the area if they have to be,” it said.

    The DGCA had earlier informed the court that they were taking action against passengers who were not properly wearing mask after repeated warnings and they will be de-boarded before departure and may be treated as “unruly passengers”.

    The DGCA had also said in its circular that passengers shall wear masks and maintain social distancing norms at all times during air travel.

    The mask shall not be moved below the nose except under exceptional circumstances, it had said.

    “CISF or other police personnel deployed at the entrance of the airport shall ensure that no one is allowed to enter the airport without wearing a mask,” it had said.

    In case, any passenger is not following Covid-19 protocol, they should be handed over to security agencies after proper warning. If required, they may be dealt as per law, it had said.

    The high court had earlier taken strong note of an “alarming situation” of passengers not properly wearing masks in flights and issued guidelines to all domestic airlines and DGCA for strict compliance, including penal action for offenders and periodical checks of the aircraft.

    “Passengers in a flight are in a closed air-conditioned environment, and, even if one of the passengers suffers from Covid-19, the effect on other passengers could be cataclysmic. It is a matter of common knowledge that being within arm’s length distance of a Covid-19 carrier, even if he is asymptomatic and is merely speaking, is more than sufficient to transmit the virus,” it had said.

    If despite being reminded, he or she refuses to follow the protocol, action should be taken against the passenger in accordance with the guidelines issued by the DGCA or Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, including placing him or her on a ‘no-fly’ regimen, either permanently or for a stipulated, sufficiently long, period, it had said.

  • DGCA suspends air traffic controller who approved IndiGo flights that came too close after take off

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended an air traffic controller for three months for approving simultaneous departures of IndiGo flights at the Bengaluru airport on January 7 that led to them coming too close just after take off.

    The two IndiGo flights — 6E455 (Bengaluru to Kolkata) and 6E246 (Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar) — averted a mid-air collision over the Bengaluru airport just after their simultaneous take off from north runway and south runway, respectively, on January 7 morning.

    The incident was called “breach of separation”, which happens when two aircraft cross the minimum mandatory vertical or horizontal distance in the airspace.

    In a statement on Monday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, “South tower controller gave departure to 6E 455 in coordination with Approach Radar controller and at the same time North tower controller gave departure to 6E 246 without prior coordination with south tower controller and Approach Radar controller.”

    As both aircraft after departure were on converging heading (moving towards each other), Approach Radar controller gave diverging heading to separate these aircraft, the regulator noted.

    “At the closet point of conflict, the vertical and lateral separation between both aircraft was 100 feet (Standard 1000ft) and 0.9 NM (Standard 3NM),” it said.

    This entire matter was classified as “serious incident” and was investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), it noted.

    Based on the regulatory assessment, the DGCA has decided to issue a “warning letter to Tower supervisor for not monitoring the activities of the ATC (air traffic controller) tower and non-reporting of incident”, it said.

    Also, the license of the “North tower controller who was also the watch supervisory officer (WSO) of the shift” has been suspended for a period of three months as he did not follow procedures and rules regarding runway operations and he did not report the incident, the DGCA said.

  • Jet Airways appoints four new senior executives

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Jet Airways on Monday announced that it has appointed four new senior executives days after aviation regulator DGCA granted a revalidated Air Operator Certificate, allowing the airline to resume commercial flight operations.

    The AOC was granted to the airline on May 20.

    The airline has appointed Prabh Sharan Singh as chief digital officer, H R Jagannath as vice president of engineering, Mark Turner as vice president of inflight product and services and Vishesh Khanna as vice president of sales, distribution and customer engagement, it said in the statement The airline said Singh will take charge on June 1, Jagannath has taken charge on Monday, Turner will take charge on June 15 and Khanna will join the airline some time in July.

    Singh is currently a senior vice president at WNS Global Services.

    “His (Singh) rich experience spanning nearly 20 years includes stints at Etihad Airways, where he worked as strategy and portfolio lead within the carrier’s digital technology and innovation division, and at Kingfisher Airlines, where he worked as general manager – commercial alliances,” the airline mentioned.

    Jagannath has over 40 years of aviation experience and he most recently served as chief executive officer of Air India Engineering Services, it noted.

    Turner, who also has more than 40 years of aviation experience, led Jet Airways’ inflight services team between 2008 and 2011 and has held senior management positions at Gulf Air, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Fiji Airways, it said.

    Khanna joins the airline from VFS Global Ltd, where he currently serves as Business Head e-Visa, it mentioned.

    “He (Khanna) has nearly 30 years of experience in the aviation and travel sectors across B2C (business-to-customer) and B2B (business-to-business) sales, having held executive positions at various airlines in the past,” it noted.

    Financial distress forced Jet Airways, which flew for more than two decades, to suspend operations on April 17, 2019 and a consortium of lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), filed an insolvency petition in June 2019 to recover outstanding dues worth over Rs 8,000 crore.

    In October 2020, the airline’s Committee of Creditors (CoC) approved the resolution plan submitted by the consortium of the UK’s Kalrock Capital and the UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan. In June 2021, the resolution plan was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

  • Runway excursion in Jabalpur: DGCA suspends licenses of two Alliance Air pilots for one year

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday said it has suspended the licenses of two Alliance Air’s pilots whose actions led to their plane overshooting the runway while landing at the Jabalpur airport on March 12.

    In a statement, the regulator said the two pilots were operating an ATR-72 aircraft from Delhi to Jabalpur on March 12.

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said its probe found that during landing at the Jabalpur airport, the aircraft floated for a long period and touched down approximately 900 metres after the aiming point (touchdown point).

    “The decision of PF (pilot flying) to continue in spite of long float resulted into long landing and subsequently runway excursion. PNF (Pilot not flying) did not call out for Go-Around despite of prolonged flare,” the regulator said.

    A “Go-Around” is done when a pilot feels that the aircraft does not have a stabilised approach just before landing.

    In the statement, the DGCA said the above “action or inaction” of the crew jeopardized the safety of the aircraft and its occupants and was in violation the Aircraft Rules 1937 and Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR).

    “The privileges of the licenses held by both the operating crew have been suspended for a period of one year,” it mentioned.

  • Child boarding incident: DGCA finds IndiGo staff prima facie violated regulations, issues showcause

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA Monday said it has issued a showcause notice to IndiGo after a fact-finding committee found the airline staff prima facie violated regulations in denying boarding to a specially-abled child at the Ranchi airport on May 7.

    The airline had on May 9 said the boy was denied boarding as he was “visibly in panic”.

    As the boy was prohibited from boarding the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight, his parents — who were accompanying him — also decided not to enter the plane.

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had constituted a fact-finding committee to probe the matter. “The committee has submitted its report,” the DGCA said in a statement on Monday.

    The proceedings of the committee were partly held in the open and partly in-camera as per the request of the affected family, it said.

    “The findings of the committee prima facie indicate inappropriate handling of passengers by the Indigo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations,” it mentioned.

    In view of this, it has been decided to issue a showcause notice to the airline through its authorised representative to explain as to why suitable enforcement action should not be taken against them for the non-conformances, it said.

    “To meet the ends of justice, the airline has been provided an opportunity for personal hearing as well as for making written submissions in next ten days from today i.e. till May 26, 2022. After hearing their submissions, appropriate action as per law would be taken,” it added.

  • IndiGo bars specially-abled child from boarding flight for ‘panicking’; DGCA begins probe

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: IndiGo barred a specially-abled child from boarding a flight at the Ranchi airport as he was in “a state of panic”, following which the aviation regulator DGCA has started a probe and asked the airline to submit a report, officials said on Sunday.

    As the boy was prohibited from boarding the airline’s Ranchi-Hyderabad flight on Saturday, his parents also decided to not take the flight, they noted.

    DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI that the regulator has sought a report from IndiGo on this matter.

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this incident and it will take appropriate action, he said.

    When asked about the incident, IndiGo said, “In view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 7, as he was in a state of panic.” The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute but to no avail, it said.

    The airline made the family comfortable by providing them a hotel stay and they flew the next morning to their destination, it said.

    “We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or its customers; and over 75,000 specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month,” it said.

  • Home ministry grants security clearance to Jet Airways

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union home ministry has granted security clearance to Jet Airways that is planning to relaunch commercial flight operations in the next few months, according to an official document.

    The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is currently the promoters of Jet Airways.

    The airline in its old avatar was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its last flight on April 17, 2019.

    Last Thursday, the airline conducted its test flight to and from the Hyderabad airport in a step towards obtaining the air operator certificate.

    A letter sent by the civil aviation ministry to the airline on May 6 informed it about the grant of the security clearance by the Union home ministry.

    The letter, which has been accessed by PTI, said, it is “directed to refer to your application… to convey security clearance for change in shareholding pattern of the company/firm, for scheduled operator permit, on the basis of security clearance received from the Ministry of Home Affairs”.

    Last Thursday’s test flight was conducted to prove to aviation regulator DGCA that the aircraft and its components are operating normally.

    After the test flight on Thursday, the airline has to conduct proving flights after which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will grant the air operator certificate.

    Proving flights are similar to commercial flight with DGCA officials and airline officials as passengers and cabin crew members on board.

  • Durgapur flight: DGCA starts probe; SpiceJet says flyers were told to remain seated

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said it has instituted a multidisciplinary team to probe the severe turbulence incident on SpiceJet’s Mumbai-Durgapur flight that left 15 people injured.

    SpiceJet on Monday said the seat belt sign was on and multiple announcements were made by crew members asking passengers to remain seated on its Mumbai-Durgapur flight on May 1.

    Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “The turbulence encountered by a flight while landing in Durgapur, and the damage caused to the passengers is unfortunate. The DGCA has deputed a team to investigate the incident.”

    The matter is being dealt with utmost seriousness and deftness, he said. “More details on the cause(s) will be shared once the investigation is completed,” Scindia noted.

    A total of 15 people, 12 passengers and three cabin crew members, were injured in this flight due to severe turbulence, said officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

    DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI, “We have deputed a multidisciplinary team to carry out regulatory investigation (into this incident).”

    On Monday, SpiceJet spokesperson said, “Eleven passengers travelling on SpiceJet flight SG-945 from Mumbai to Durgapur on May 1, which encountered severe turbulence during descent which unfortunately resulted in injuries to a few passengers, were hospitalised.” Eight of those hospitalised have been discharged so far, the spokesperson said.

    The spokesperson said it is providing all possible help to the injured.

    “The seat belt sign was on when the aircraft encountered turbulence. Multiple announcements were made by the pilots and the crew instructed passengers to remain seated and keep their seat belt fastened,” the spokesperson mentioned.

    Due to severe turbulence, injuries were caused to few passengers, the spokesperson noted. “Timely medical assistance was provided upon arrival,” the spokesperson added.