India News | DGCA Suspends Two Senior Executives of AirAsia India over Safety Violations
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended two senior executives of AirAsia India for a period of three months over "safety violations", said a senior official on Tuesday.
New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended two senior executives of AirAsia India for a period of three months over "safety violations", said a senior official on Tuesday.
The suspension was carried out a week ago, the official said.
In June this year, one of the AirAsia India's former pilots -- who runs a YouTube channel called Flying Beast -- alleged violations of safety norms by the low-cost airline.
"We had issued a show cause notice to two AirAsia India executives -- Head of Operations Manish Uppal and Head of Flight Safety Mukesh Nema -- in June only. It has been decided now to suspend them for a period of three months," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said.
AirAsia India did not respond to PTI's request for a statement on this matter.
Captain Gaurav Taneja, a popular Youtuber, tweeted on June 14 that he has been suspended by AirAsia India "for standing up for safe operations of an aircraft and its passengers". On June 15, he posted a detailed video on YouTube titled "Reasons behind suspension from my pilot job".
Taneja alleged in the video that the airline has asked its pilots to do 98 per cent of landings in "Flap 3" mode, which allows it to save fuel. He said if a pilot does not do 98 per cent of landings in "Flap 3" mode, the airline considers it a violation of its standard operating procedure (SOP).
Flaps are part of wings of an aircraft and they are engaged to create a drag during a landing or a take-off.
Taneja gave the example of the Imphal airport, where the plane descends more steeply as compared to other airports when approaching for landing. He said when an aircraft is coming down steeply, it needs to have a drag so that it remains slow, and in these circumstances a pilot has to do a "Flap full" landing.
“In order to achieve targets, what would people do? They will do Flap 3 landings without giving consideration whether it is safe or unsafe. This directly impacts the passenger safety," he had claimed in his YouTube video.
"If something happens during a Flap 3 landing, then the question would be asked to the pilot if he or she cares more about saving fuel or 180 passengers'' lives, Taneja had said.
On June 15, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Twitter that it had taken note of the concerns raised by some stakeholders "against a particular airline and its approach to safety".
"DGCA has already started an investigation into the issues flagged and shall take appropriate action based on the outcome of the said investigation," it added.
Senior DGCA officials had confirmed on June 15 itself that AirAsia India was under investigation after Taneja's allegations. PTI DSP DV DV 08110935 NNNN to be difficult, I think, for another year.” Britain now has Europe's highest official pandemic death toll, which stood at more than 45,000 as of Thursday.
Calder was speaking to the AP in a video interview between calls with the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
He was also called on by the Premier League to speak to managers and players during the national lockdown while uncertainty persisted about the safety and wisdom of resuming the competition during a pandemic.
“There was actually a lot of fear ... about going back into an unknown environment and trying to think of a way of getting them through that, out of their houses into grounds safely,” Calder said.
“There is no way we could make it safe and we had to be very, very explicit about that. And all you can do is try and reduce the risk and make a very safe environment at work.”
Premier League players and other club staff have required twice weekly testing for the coronavirus. Of 2,208 tests last week, there were no positive cases.
“The prevalence of the disease has gone much further down and we've now got to review the whole structure,” Calder said.
“We will have to change the testing regime and I would hope that at some stage we won't need to test. But I think initially we've got to continue testing to a certain extent.
“How that goes we're taking advice from the government experts and the virologists and the world experts. But ultimately, I think in next season we may start off with once or twice a week initially with the testing and then review as we go through the season.”
One way players can avoid being infected while away from their clubs is taking preventative measures during the brief offseason break in August.
“When you when you're away, just keep your social distancing — don't let your guard down,” Calder said.
“You probably want to choose the place you go to carefully. The United States of America and Brazil and South America are difficult places ... I'd avoid States and South America at the moment and India and Pakistan.” (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)