India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA, is following up on its commitment to inspect commercial airplanes in the country for damage and defects. Acting swiftly, the agency has checked more than 250 planes in one week alone and notified the concerned airlines about the issues found.
Special cabin audit
If you were alarmed at seeing missing or dislocated cabin interior fittings on some of your previous flights in India, perhaps the latest move by the DGCA will offer some hope. The regulator is currently engaged in a mass spring-cleaning of sorts of many airplanes in India, finding issues of all kinds and asking airlines to fix them ASAP.
The Times of India reports that the agency inspected 112 airplanes between May 2nd and 8th and carried out spot checks on an additional 168 aircraft. While most planes belonged to SpiceJet, some were of IndiGo, Vistara, Air India, Go First, FlyBig, Alliance Air, and AirAsia India. Big or small, every carrier is under the microscope.
At the last count, the DGCA has checked 280 aircraft cabins within a week. These inspections are over and above the regular maintenance procedures, with a senior official telling TOI,
“None of these aircraft had to be grounded for repairs. The cabin deficiencies revealed during the spot checks and inspections are being brought to the notice of the airline concerned, and they get most of the issues repaired at night itself.”
What is being found in these checks?
From cracked toilet seats to broken armrests, these checks are revealing issues of all kinds. In one of the inspections, six infant life vests were found kept in a bag meant for life vests for adults. In some instances, the airline knew about these issues but, for some reason, did not act to rectify them.
For instance, the airline whose aircraft was found with a cracked toilet seat did not secure the lavatory for non-use. For another airplane, the logbook revealed that the time frame to carry out repairs kept getting extended due to a lack of parts, such as missing passenger seat hinges, armrest covers, and ceiling lights.
In another aircraft, the upper latch of a refuel panel was found non-serviceable, and a repair had been pending for around 120 days. The regulatory body is conducting an extensive check, focusing on missing panels, hat racks, windows, galley equipment, seats, and emergency equipment, among other things.
DGCA chief Arun Kumar told TOI,
“We are working with our airlines to upgrade passenger experience by attending to maintenance issues in the cabin. Needless to add, the main focus of our audit is safety. But simultaneously we are goading operators to take appropriate care of the cabin.”
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The reason behind the scrutiny
As reported a few days back, successive developments in the last few weeks have put the focus on the structural fitness of commercial aircraft in India. The DGCA has been particularly busy lately dealing with one situation after another, prompting it to check older airplanes thoroughly.
Last month, authorities ordered a SpiceJet Boeing 737 airplane to be grounded following a passenger’s tweet, which contained not-so-impressive pictures of the plane. A few days later, a passenger posted similar images of an Air India plane on social media.
In particular, the DGCA is focusing more on old airplanes and airlines with weak finances.
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Source: The Times of India