Friend in cockpit: Air India pilot’s licence suspended for a year

An Air India pilot's license has been suspended for a year after he allowed a friend into the cockpit of a Chandigarh-Leh flight, violating safety norms. The co-pilot's license was suspended for a month for not reporting the violation. The airline had previously suspended the pilot and co-pilot for six months and one month respectively. The regulator is expected to issue show cause notices to the two pilots.

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday suspended the licence of an Air India pilot for a year, after he allowed a friend inside the cockpit of a Chandigarh-Leh flight, in violation of safety norms, earlier this month.

Air India (REUTERS)

According to officials aware of the developments, the civil aviation regulator also suspended the licence of the co-pilot, for a month, for not raising any concerns and reporting the violation.

The airline had earlier suspended the pilot, Captain Rahul Singh, and co-pilot for six months and one month, respectively.

“The licence of the PIC (pilot-in-command) has been suspended for a period of one year for misuse of his authority vested under the Aircraft Rules 1937 and allowing violation of the applicable DGCA regulations,” a DGCA official said.

Action was also taken against the co-pilot for not raising any concern over the unauthorised entry of a person into the cockpit or reporting the violation, the official said. “The licence of the first officer (co-pilot) has been suspended for a period of one month for not being assertive in preventing and non-reporting of the violation,” the official said.

There was no immediate comment from the two pilots.

An airline official, who did not wish to be named, earlier said that Captain Singh had allowed a helicopter pilot, who was travelling as a passenger, inside the cockpit of flight AI 445 after it took off from Chandigarh on June 3. The matter was reported by a male crew upon returning to Chandigarh.

The official also said that the matter was reported to DGCA.

An Air India spokesperson earlier said the airline has “zero-tolerance” for such violation of regulations. “Air India has a Just Culture approach to all safety related events and has zero tolerance for deliberate breaches of regulations. Such breaches are dealt with on a serious basis and sanctions will be imposed on those who are in breach of the regulations,” the spokesperson said.