The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday removed A S Soman as Air India (AI) flight safety chief after finding his response “unsatisfactory” on his failure to preserve flight monitoring data.
Officials said the DGCA decision to “withdraw” Soman's approval as the airline's safety head came a month after an incident involving AI's Bengaluru-Hyderabad flight, in which the pilot first touched down but took off again without stopping, citing bad weather.
Show-cause notice
The DGCA served a show-cause notice to Soman after the incident was brought to its notice.
The regulator sought flight monitoring data for the period between May 23 and June 25 this year to carry out its investigation into the incident.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation regulations say a scheduled airline has to monitor data of every flight.
The data should be kept on records for six months, accordng to the DGCA. However, Soman could not provide the data.
As a result, the DGCA could not carry out its probe, said officials, adding that the regulator was not happy with Soman's response.
Though removed from the post, Soman will continue in the airline, his next assignment to be decided by the management.
He was appointed to the post this January. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been strict in ensuring that its safety parameters and regulation are complied to by all, especially against the backdrop of restoration of India's Category-1 status by the US' Federal Aviation Administration.
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