By Kavita Mistry 
You would be surprised to know that the country’s Tata-owned Air India has operated an aircraft that was not airworthy, potentially risking the safety of passengers that too multiple times.
How Did This Happen?
To start with, a 164-seater Airbus A320 with an expired airworthiness licence flew eight times on November 24-25 till the time an engineer discovered the lapse and the plane was taken out of service, according to the sources.
The event has prompted an investigation by the regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said the people known to the development.
It appears that the troubled airline has been seeking to convince flyers that it takes their safety seriously since the Dreamliner crash of June 12 that left 260 people dead.
When it comes to the Certificate of Airworthiness, it is issued by the DGCA, and it needs to be renewed every year after ensuring a plane has undergone periodic maintenance and is in a safe condition for flight.
So it is of utmost importance to operate an aircraft without valid licences and lapses in maintaining these certificates is considered a serious offence.
Hafty Penalties & Suspension
The government official said that Air India is likely to face hefty penalties, including suspension of top officials.
In response to this, the carrier has already suspended all those who were involved with the decision to release the aircraft without a valid licence.
Meanwhile the A320 will remain grounded pending DGCA investigation and the airline may also be in trouble with lessors, as flying with an expired licence can lead to invalidation of insurance coverage.
The government official said, “By operating an aircraft which was not certified to be airworthy, the carrier has risked flight safety and (that of) all the passengers. This is a serious violation and not expected from a mainline carrier like Air India.”
Coming to DGCA inspectors, they make periodic spot checks and the operator is responsible for maintaining aircraft in a state of airworthiness.
“As soon as this came to our notice, it was duly reported to DGCA. We have initiated a comprehensive internal investigation,” said Air India spokesperson.
Raised Concerns Regarding Air India’s Safety Culture
Considering the modern software, it’s very hard to miss scheduled tasks such as licence renewal or maintenance, said senior aircraft engineers.
Besides this, Air India also has an inhouse Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) which is responsible for this task.
A DGCA inspector noted, “An airline typically starts the work of renewal of its certificates at least three months before the due date so it is renewed before time.”
Further adding,“After the end of daily operations, when the aircraft is parked for night halt, an engineer checks whether all documents and approvals are in line. That the plane flew eight times with an expired licence raises a lot of questions about Air India’s safety culture.”
The DGCA will most likely categorise this incident as a Level 1 violation as it was critical to flight safety.
This is also major as it is the latest in a series of lapses that have plagued Air India’s flight operations.
Prior to this, the airline’s top officials, including chief executive Campbell Wilson, were sent show-cause notices for operating multiple components fitted in aircraft that had exceeded their life span.
It appears that the regulator suspended the airline’s head of the engineering quality department a few months ago as it was responsible for audits to ensure the airline is adhering to all norms.
Basically, the airline is going through a series of hiccups which points to Tata group’s continuing struggle to improve the airline’s reputation almost four years after privatisation.
Now they are leaning on Singapore Airlines (SIA), to streamline its engineering operations as it owns 25.1% of the company.
In this regard, a senior vice president of Singapore Airlines Engineering Services, Jeremy Yew, has been deputed to the carrier, said a senior Air India executive and soon more officials from SIA will be coming on board.