DGCA slaps Rs 90 lakh fine on Air India for flying with unqualified crew

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday levied a financial penalty of Rs 90 lakh on Air India Limited for operating a flight with non-qualified crew members. In addition to this, penalties of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were imposed on the director of operations and the director of training at Air India, respectively.

The incident, which involved a non-trainer line captain being paired with a non-line-released first officer, was flagged by the airline in a voluntary report submitted to the DGCA on July 10, 2024.

The regulator viewed the incident as a serious scheduling error with significant safety implications.