New Delhi, 23 Aug

Aviation watchdog DGCA has imposed a penalty of Rs 90 lakh on Tata Group-owned Air India and has also suspended the airline's director of training for six months in connection with a flight that was operated with non-qualified pilots.

Besides, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has slapped fines of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh on Air India's Director of Operations Pankul Mathur and Director of Training Manish Vasavada for the lapse.

In a release on Friday, the regulator said the pilot concerned has been warned to exercise caution to prevent such occurrences in future. "Air India Ltd operated a flight commanded by a non-trainer line captain paired with a non-line-released first officer which has been viewed by the regulator as a serious scheduling incident having significant safety ramifications," the release said.

For the violations, DGCA has imposed a fine of Rs 90 lakh on Air India, Rs 6 lakh on the Director of Operations and Rs 3 lakh on the Director of Training. Also, the Director of Training has been suspended for six months.

After the incident came to its notice through a voluntary report submitted by the airline on July 10, the regulator investigated the operations of the carrier, including examination of documentations and spot check of the scheduling facility.

"Based on investigation, it was prima facie revealed that there are deficiencies and multiple violations of the regulatory provisions by several post holders and staff, which could significantly affect safety," the release said.

DGCA also said the flight's commander and the post holders of the airline were provided an opportunity to explain their position through show cause notices issued on 22 July.

The reply submitted by the concerned persons failed to provide satisfactory justification. As such, DGCA has initiated enforcement action in terms of provisions of the extant rules/ regulations and imposed the above penalty, the watchdog noted. Earlier also, the airline had faced enforcement action from the regulator for certain violations.