Air India cockpit crew served notice by DGCA for ignoring safety protocols

Air India cockpit crew has received a show-cause notice by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for operating multiple flights between Delhi and Tokyo despite being aware of serious safety and compliance lapses. The DGCA notice pertains to flights AI-358 and AI-357 and Minimum Equipment List (MEL) compliance, and flight crew decision-making.

"Whereas, it has been observed that M/s Air India Limited, during the operation of Flight AI-358 (and related operations of AI-357), serious safety concerns arose pertaining to aircraft dispatch, Minimum Equipment List (MEL) compliance, and flight crew decision-making," read the notice.

The notice also said that similar issues had been detected on other sectors in the past and it can not not be ruled out as an isolated incident.

"Whereas, during the operation of Flight AI-358, the operating crew received PACK ACM L and Pack Mode advisories. And a smell of smoke was reported near the R2 door. Whereas repetitive snags related to the same systems had been recorded on five previous sectors, indicating a known history of system degradation," the notice further read.