Vistara Fined Rs 10 Lakh For Endangering Lives After Pilot Lands Plane Without Training
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakhs on Tata-owned Vistara Airline for letting an improperly trained pilot land an aircraft.
According to officials, the incident happened at the Indore airport.
The pilot, who was the first officer on the flight, landed the aircraft at the Indore airport recently without first getting the requisite training in a simulator.
"This was a serious violation endangering lives of the passengers on board," an official noted.
Pilot was not trained in a simulator
A first officer has to be first trained to land an aircraft in a simulator before he or she can land a plane with passengers on board. A captain is also trained at a simulator before he or she can allow the first officer to land the aircraft.
The captain as well as the first officer of the Indore flight did not train in a simulator but the first officer was still allowed to conduct the landing at the airport, officials said.
Endangering lives of passengers
According to the aviation regulator, the act was a serious breach for it risked the security of flyers.
"It is a serious violation endangering the lives of the passengers on board," DGCA said.
"Vistara has been fined by DGCA for violation of takeoff and landing clearance given to first officers without conducting any training. A penalty of ten lakh has been levied on the airline for the said lapse. It was detected during a landing in Indore," DGCA said.
Rs 10 lakh fine on SpiceJet
This comes just days after DGCA had imposed a fine of Rs.10 lakh on SpiceJet for training 737 Max aircraft pilots on a faulty simulator.
A senior DGCA official informed that during simulator surveillance by DGCA at CSTPL Greater Noida on March 30, 2022, it was observed that there was an MMI (Missing Malfunction Inoperative Item ) for the B737 Max with respect to the Stick shaker on the P2 side, being inoperative since 17th March 2022.
DGCA had last month barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating the Max aircraft after it found them being trained on a simulator that had its stick shaker on the co-pilot's side inoperative.
Stick shaker warns pilots whenever it detects that the plane has stalled mid-air.
Rs 5 lakh fine on IndiGo
Recently another airline, IndiGo was also fined Rs 5 lakh by the DGCA for denying boarding to a specially abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.
IndiGo had on May 9 said the boy was denied permission to board the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was visibly in panic. After the boy was prohibited from boarding, his parents also decided not to enter the plane.
For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.
