DGCA summons Air India, Air India Express executives over AI Flight 171 crash probe, ongoing flight disruptions

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) summoned the executives of Air India and Air India Express on Monday, amid the probe investigating the crash of Air India Flight 171 and ongoing disruptions on its flight network. DGCA has summoned the executives in a virtual meeting that will be chaired by DG Fazi Ahmed Kidwai.

Among those who are summoned include Campbell Wilson, Air India’s MD and CEO, Director of Flight Operations Captain Pankul Mathur, and Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh, along with other key management personnel who are responsible for maintaining operations and safety compliance, according to a Times of India report.

The summon comes close on the heels of the deadly crash of Air India’s London-bound Flight 171, which crashed in the hostel of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad barely thirty seconds after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport in the city, in which 241 out of the 242 passengers and crew on-board lost their lives. In total, at least 271 people lost their lives in the crash, with 30 people in the hostel also perishing in the disaster, making it the worst aviation disaster an Indian carrier was involved in Indian airspace.

After the aviation disaster, Air India has been facing multiple disruptions of its flight operations, with flights returning after technical snags were reported. A string of flight disruptions was reported on Tuesday across multiple domestic and international routes, including the Delhi–Paris, the San Francisco–Mumbai, and the Ahmedabad–London flight routes, leaving many passengers stranded.

Air India said that it had to cancel the flight from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle International Airport after a technical issue was discovered during the mandatory pre-flight checks. However, given the restrictions on night operations at the CDG Airport, Air India decided to cancel the flight. It also said that it is providing hotel accommodation to passengers, along with a full refund on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling, if opted for by the passengers.

In Kolkata, a San Francisco–Mumbai flight was terminated mid-route after a technical snag was reported in one of its engines of the Boeing 777 200-LR, when the flight made a scheduled stopover at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.