An inspection crew of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has discovered lapses in the internal safety audits of Air India, in response to officers.
An Air India spokesperson stated that every one airways are topic to common safety audits by regulators and different our bodies.
“Air India actively engages in such audits to continually assess and strengthen our processes,” the spokesperson stated in an announcement, including that Air India straight addresses any issues raised with the authority involved.
According to the inspection report submitted to the DGCA, the airline was alleged to conduct common safety spot checks in varied areas of operations resembling cabin surveillance, cargo, ramp and cargo, nevertheless, throughout a random inspection of 13 safety factors, the two-member crew discovered that the airline allegedly ready false stories in all 13 instances.
“Moreover, when cross-verified with CCTV, recordings, auditee statements, shift register documents, GD (General Declaration) list, passenger manifest etc, it is understood that all the aforesaid 13 spot checks shown to be carried out in stations Mumbai, Goa and Delhi were verified and were established to have not been actually performed,” the two-member crew stated in the ‘Deficiency Reporting Form’ (DRF).
The inspection discovered that these stories “were subsequently prepared/falsified when demanded by the DGCA team”.
The report additional famous that these alleged solid spot-check stories weren’t signed by the Chief of Flight Safety (CFS) who has the authority to do it.
The crew visited Air India’s workplace in Gurugram in Haryana on July 25 and 26, and after inspection, they talked about the lapses in the DRF.
DGCA Director General Vikram Dev Dutt stated the matter is being investigated by the regulator.
According to the inspection report, the checklists had been bodily signed by an auditor from the Quality Management System (QMS) Department which doesn’t fall underneath the approval and inspection scope of the DGCA and has totally different eligibility standards/qualification business requirements.
The inspection report stated the crew didn’t discover any written communication for the delegation of authority to the auditor.
“Also other than verbal confirmation by CFS, there were no email correspondences and authorisation by the CFS for the aforementioned sport checks,” it stated.
As per the inspection report, concerning the Pre-Flight Medical Examination (alcohol consumption check of pilots), Air India claimed that it carried out the spot test however the crew discovered that the airline’s internal auditor “had not physically visited the facility which is mandatory to satisfy many items of the checklist”.
“Also, the equipment details and test readings have not been noted on the checklist. Merely, all the points have been marked as satisfactory without actually performing the spot check,” it stated.
(With PTI inputs)
