(Adds dropped word ‘worst’ in paragraph 10)
By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Air India has been warned by India’s aviation regulator that it could face enforcement action for breaching safety standards related to crew fatigue management and training, government notices to the airline seen by Reuters showed.
The airline self-reported the problems, which occurred this year and last year, to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last month, just days after one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners crashed in Ahmedabad city, killing 260 people.
Four government notices, dated July 23, criticised Air India for repeated failures in safety compliance and follow many other warnings in the past. Potential regulatory action could include fines or ordering that executives be removed from their jobs.
The latest notices cite a combined 29 violations, including pilots not being given mandatory rest, poor compliance with simulator training requirements, lack of training for a high-altitude airport and flying on international routes with insufficient cabin crew.
“Despite repeated warning and enforcement action of non-compliance in the past, systemic issues related to compliance monitoring, crew planning, and training governance remain unresolved,” said one of the notices.
“The recurrence of such violations suggests a failure to establish and enforce effective control mechanisms,” it said.
Air India said in a statement that the notices related to voluntary disclosures made over the past year, and it will respond to the regulator.
“We remain committed to the safety of our crew and passengers,” it added.
The DGCA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Air India has come under intense scrutiny since the Ahmedabad crash, which was the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
A preliminary report found that the fuel control switches were flipped almost simultaneously after takeoff and there was pilot confusion in the cockpit. One pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel and got a response that he hadn’t done so, the report said.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
