Air Asia Head of Operations, Air Safety Suspended After ex-Pilot Reveals Violation of Safety Norms

New Delhi: The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday suspended two top officials – Capt Manish Uppal, head of operations, and Capt Mukesh Neema, head of air safety – of the Air Asia India airlines for three months for allegedly compromising on the safety of passengers. Also Read – International Flights: When Can we Expect Full-fledged Reopening of Intl Flights? Here’s DGCA Chief’s Reply

The DGCA had issued a show-cause notice to Air Asia India on June 28, after a pilot – who was eventually suspended – levelled allegations that the low-cost carrier violates safety norms and puts the lives of its pilots, crew and passengers at risk. Also Read – Kerala Air Crash: Black Box of AI Express Flight Brought to Delhi, DGCA Chief Calls For ‘Thorough And Unbiased’ Probe

In June, Gaurav Taneja, a pilot who also runs a popular YouTube channel called Flying Beast, had tweeted that he had been suspended by Air Asia “for standing up for safe operations of an aircraft and its passengers”. Taneja released a detailed video on his YouTube channel regarding the same. Also Read – Air India Express Crash: Warning Ignored? DGCA Issued Show Cause Notice to Kozhikode Airport Last July

His video went viral across social media platforms, with AirAsia customers writing about how their experiences were relatable to Taneja’s narration. This forced the DGCA to probe into AirAsia’s actions.

Taneja claimed that the airline asked its pilots to do 98 per cent of landings in “Flap 3” mode in order to save fuel and that if anyone does not do it, the airline considers it a violation of its standard operating procedure (SOP). The “Flap 3” mode is usually avoided in difficult or steep landings that require the pilot to slow down the speed.

Air Asia had, however, stood firm no their safety grounds.

Subsequently, the DGCA took note of the complaints raised by a number of stakeholders and started an investigation into the flagged issues. The aviation regulator said it will “take appropriate action based on the outcome of the said investigation”.

However, the aviation watchdog has received criticism for announcing a short-term suspension of the carrier’s top brass as compared to the suspension of the pilot.