DGCA asks for training data of Air India pilots, dispatcher of AI-171: Report

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation safety watchdog, has asked Air India to submit the training record data of its pilots and the dispatcher of the ill-fated Air India’s flight 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad last week as part of its ongoing investigation ascertaining the circumstances that led to its crash barely 30 seconds post take-off, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing government memos.

According to the report, the DGCA has also directed all flying schools in India to conduct training compliance checks, quoting confidential memos as quoted by the news agency. In the memo, the DGCA said the requests were part of a “regulatory” review of the accident that killed 241 of the 242 passengers and crew, and at least 30 people in the hostel of the BJ Medical College, where the aircraft crashed. The regulator has also sought details of the action taken by Air India following audits conducted in the past few months. Air India is asked by the DGCA to submit the details by Monday.

The memo quoted by the news agency did not elaborate on the type of documents required by the DGCA, but as part of the investigations that happen after accidents usually ask airlines to submit the details of the crew’s training and qualifications, along with flight history, medical records, and any actions that were previously taken against them, if any. However, the memo did not raise any concerns with Air India’s operations, and according to the report, some of the requests are standard in the aftermath of a major accident.

Dispatchers are DGCA-certified ground personnel whose role includes flight planning, assessing weather and airspace conditions, along with liaising with the pilots. It should be noted that a separate wing of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, is investigating the air crash.

Air India chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said in a town hall at the airline’s training academy in Gurugram that the crash of Air India’s Flight 171 should be an impetus towards building a safer airline. Addressing a gathering of around 700 airline employees, Chandrasekaran, also known as Chandra, stated that while he has witnessed several crises in his life, the airline crash was the “most heartbreaking one,” a Tata Group spokesperson stated, citing Chandra.

In a memo dated June 13 and titled “updating airport emergency plan”, the government-managed airports have been directed to conduct a full-scale training exercise, which typically is an emergency drill, on June 30, in the wake of the accident.