DGCA orders termination of three Air India officials over safety lapses

The order comes following "serious and repeated violations" in connection with flight crew scheduling and rostering.

The lapses, which were disclosed by the airline owned by Tata Group, revealed that mandatory licensing, rest and recency norms were not followed in scheduling and operating flight crew.

The three identified officials are Choorah Singh, Divisional Vice President; Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager in the Directorate of Operations, Crew Scheduling; and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling – Planning.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation  (DGCA) has also ordered disciplinary action should be initiated against the officials and the result of the proceedings should be reported within 10 days.

The DGCA order came days after a London-bound Air India Boeing Dreamliner flight crashed soon after takeoff near the Ahmedabad airport killing 279 including on-ground people.

241 out of 242 onboard passengers and crew members were killed in the crash, which is one of the country's worst aviation tragedies.

One person, the passenger of seat No. 11A,  survived the crash miraculously.

Need to do extended surveillance into Boeing 787 Series, says Civil Aviation Minister

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has acknowledged the need for an "extended surveillance into Boeing 787 Series" aircraft in the aftermath of the plane crash that killed 279 including on-ground people.

Naidu said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already given its order for "extended surveillance for the 787 planes".

"We have very strict safety standards in the country...When the incident happened, we also felt that there is a need to do an extended surveillance into the Boeing 787 Series. DGCA has also given an order to do the extended surveillance for the 787 planes.

"There are 34 in our Indian aircraft fleet today. I believe that 8 have already been inspected and with immediate urgency, all of them are going to be done...," the minister said.