New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA has removed Air India’s flight safety department chief A.S. Soman after rejecting his reply on the failure to download and monitor Digital Flight Recorder Data (DFDR) data. A passenger had complained against the manner in which an AI flight flying from Bengaluru had landed at Hyderabad airport on June 28.
According to the complaint, the aircraft bounced heavily once after landing, following which the pilot “opened the power” and took off again to go around for another landing. The pilot managed to take the dangerous mover as there were not many passengers at that time, the passenger alleged.
The DGCA, which started probing the incident, found that the DFDR data regarding the flight on June 28 had not been downloaded. The aviation regulator then issued a showcause notice to Mr Soman. Air India had also suspended an aircraft maintenance engineer.
In his reply, Mr Soman passed the buck to the engineering department. Emphasising that it is the responsibility of the flight safety chief to monitor the DFDR on time, the DGCA removed him from his current post.
According to rules, DFDR data are to be preserved for at least six months. Since there is no data available, the DGCA was unable to probe the Hyderabad incident. Now, the DGCA has asked Air India to propose a fresh name for appointment following which it will screen new candidates.
