India fines Air India $110,350 in Airbus incident, says lapse eroded public confidence

NEW DELHI: India’s civil aviation watchdog has fined Air India $110,350 for flying an Airbus plane eight times without an airworthiness permit, saying the lapse has further eroded public trust in the country’s second-biggest airline, a confidential order shows.

An Airbus A320 flew passengers between New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad on November 24 to 25 without the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate, or ARC, a key permit issued annually by the regulator after a plane passes safety and compliance checks.

Air India’s own internal investigation into the incident, which Reuters reported in December, found “systemic failures”, with the airline, which also admitted there was an urgent need to improve compliance culture at the carrier.

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A confidential penalty order issued by Indian authorities on February 5 to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the incident had “further eroded public confidence and adversely impacted the safety compliance of the organisation.”

“The accountable manager on behalf of Air India is found blameworthy for the above lapses,” Joint Director General of Civil Aviation, Maneesh Kumar, wrote in the order, referring to Wilson.

Air India did not respond to Reuters queries.

The airline has been asked to deposit 10 million Indian rupees, or $110,339, within 30 days.

Air India suffered its worst disaster when a Boeing Dreamliner crashed moments after take-off in June last year, killing 260 people.

The Airbus incident investigation by Air India also blamed pilots, saying those who flew the eight flights did not comply with standard operating procedures before taking off, Reuters has reported.

Air India, which is owned by India’s Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has also received warnings from the watchdog for running planes without checking emergency equipment as well as other audit lapses.