New Delhi: Training junior pilots to fly passengers — safely — is an article of ultimate faith, with only captains with impeccable risk-free records being given the job. But a skeleton has now tumbled out of a big airline's cupboard which shows that it reportedly kept promoting a senior pilot in trainer rank as he committed one incident after the other.
What's worse, the airline did not report these incidents to the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the clueless regulator kept endorsing the pilot's status as trainer whenever the airline wanted!
This serious violation happened on SpiceJet when a senior pilot of its Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft reportedly had two violations. The low cost carrier — instead of reporting them to the DGCA — asked the regulator to make him a trainer after the first incident and then after the second and even more serious incident asked him to be made a synthetic flight instructor (SFI, who trains on simulators).
An unaware DGCA acceded to the airline's request both times, possibly justifying global fears over its poor oversight capabilities because of which it was downgraded by the American Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year.
30/08/14 Times of India
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What's worse, the airline did not report these incidents to the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the clueless regulator kept endorsing the pilot's status as trainer whenever the airline wanted!
This serious violation happened on SpiceJet when a senior pilot of its Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft reportedly had two violations. The low cost carrier — instead of reporting them to the DGCA — asked the regulator to make him a trainer after the first incident and then after the second and even more serious incident asked him to be made a synthetic flight instructor (SFI, who trains on simulators).
An unaware DGCA acceded to the airline's request both times, possibly justifying global fears over its poor oversight capabilities because of which it was downgraded by the American Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year.
30/08/14 Times of India
