DGCA advises against consecutive night shifts

An early morning accident causing damage to an aircraft at Kolkata airport has prompted Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to advise airlines not to deploy drivers on consecutive night shifts.

The aviation regulator's recommendation came in an investigation report on an incident involving a vehicle carrying two Jet Airways crew which had rammed into an aircraft of Air Alliance on December 22 last year.

The probe by the DGCA team had found that "involuntary dozing of the driver while driving on the apron" resulted in the collision of the coach with the aircraft.“Airlines may review their policy on rostering equipment operators/drivers for performing duties on consecutive nights,” the report said.

The driver of the Jet Airways was ferrying two cabin crew members from the terminal building to the aircraft when the incident took place at around 5.30 am. The driver rammed the vehicle into the Air Alliance aircraft, which did not have anyone on board. The driver was immediately subjected to breath analyser test in which he came clean. 

Inquiry
The inquiry found that the driver had reported for duty at 10.30 pm on December 21 and had taken rest for three hours in between, which ruled out fatigue as one of the reasons for the accident.

This led the DGCA to examine his duty roster to see whether he was fatigued due to excessive duties.