New Delhi: Two Air India pilots, including a trainee, are paying for a serious oversight of the airline’s rostering department by getting grounded by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The trainee was to do supervised flying with a training captain but that did not happen due to a mix-up which led to the flight not being operated by the correct complement of crew.
The trainee pilot was supposed to operate Mumbai-Riyadh flight on July 9, 2024, with a training captain. On landing in Riyadh, the young trainee would have asked the training pilot to sign his SLF (supervised line flying) form. However, the training captain fell ill and rostering replaced him with a normal line (not training) captain.
“Enroute, the two pilots realised this mix-up (which wasn’t their fault) by the scheduling department. The other pilot could not have sign that form as he was not a training captain. The trainee could not have known this. And the other pilot could not have known the trainee was to do supervised flying under a training captain. This was an oversight by crew management system (CMS) which could not ensure the legal complement of crew. The two pilots realised what had happened and filed a voluntary report with the base manager,” said sources. The airline then voluntarily reported it to the regulator.
A senior DGCA official said the two pilots have been off-rostered (taken off flying duty). The regulator is learnt to be examining whose oversight led to this mix-up. Some AI officials have been called to the regulator’s office to fix accountability, say sources.
AI sources admit there were a series of oversights that culminated in this mix-up. As soon as the matter the investigated and the lapse was found, the same was voluntary reported to the DGCA, sources said. Comments were sought from AI on this issue and awaited till the time of going to press.
The trainee pilot was supposed to operate Mumbai-Riyadh flight on July 9, 2024, with a training captain. On landing in Riyadh, the young trainee would have asked the training pilot to sign his SLF (supervised line flying) form. However, the training captain fell ill and rostering replaced him with a normal line (not training) captain.
“Enroute, the two pilots realised this mix-up (which wasn’t their fault) by the scheduling department. The other pilot could not have sign that form as he was not a training captain. The trainee could not have known this. And the other pilot could not have known the trainee was to do supervised flying under a training captain. This was an oversight by crew management system (CMS) which could not ensure the legal complement of crew. The two pilots realised what had happened and filed a voluntary report with the base manager,” said sources. The airline then voluntarily reported it to the regulator.
A senior DGCA official said the two pilots have been off-rostered (taken off flying duty). The regulator is learnt to be examining whose oversight led to this mix-up. Some AI officials have been called to the regulator’s office to fix accountability, say sources.
AI sources admit there were a series of oversights that culminated in this mix-up. As soon as the matter the investigated and the lapse was found, the same was voluntary reported to the DGCA, sources said. Comments were sought from AI on this issue and awaited till the time of going to press.