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 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, reports Saurabh Sinha.
The trainee pilot was supposed to operate Mumbai-Riyadh flight on July 9, 2024, with a training captain. On landing in Riyadh, the 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,” said sources.
A senior DGCA official said the two pilots have been off-rostered. The regulator is learnt to be examining whose oversight led to this mix-up.
The trainee pilot was supposed to operate Mumbai-Riyadh flight on July 9, 2024, with a training captain. On landing in Riyadh, the 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,” said sources.
A senior DGCA official said the two pilots have been off-rostered. The regulator is learnt to be examining whose oversight led to this mix-up.