New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) After a severe rebuke from the Director Regulator Civil Aviation’s Civil Aviation’s Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India Express on Friday accepted the mistake in changing the engine parts in its Airbus A320 aircraft and said that it has now fixed the problem, as well as implemented corrective measures.
In a statement shared with IANS, the airline said that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), an airwellness, was in force to two engines in the company’s inventory in May 2023.
The airline reported that the required change in one engine was made within the stipulated time limit, the airline’s monitoring software had missed instructions for the other due to the record migration problem.
“Due to the migration of records on the monitoring software platform, the technical team missed the trigger for an engine,” the airline said.
The Air India Express further stated that “as soon as it was identified” necessary changes were made and compliance for other engines was also completed within the time limit.
The statement said, “We accepted the error before the DGCA and took corrective action and preventive measures with immediate effect. Necessary administrative action was also taken against the responsible persons.”
The airline has given this response to the confidential DGCA memo, alleging that the Air India Express has been accused of failing to change the engine parts within the compulsory time limit and allegedly showing the maintenance records to show incorrect compliance.
These violations were detected during the regular DGCA audit in October 2024 and the airline was formally reported in March.
The DGCA Memo had indicated that the part amendment was not complied with within the required limits on an engine of the Airbus A320.
It also expressed concern over the possible tampering of records in the airline’s aircraft maintenance and engineering operating system (AMOS).
The security lapse was before the tragic accident of Air India Dreamliner in Ahmedabad in June, killing 241 out of 242 people, which was the deadliest airline in a decade.
The Air India Express, which is currently undergoing integration with the expansion of fleet and AIX Connect (East AirAsia India), has reiterated its commitment to “the highest standards of security and regulatory compliance”.
-IANS
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