The surveillance covered multiple critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic control (ATC), communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations
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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an order on June 19 to initiate a focused assessment of the aviation ecosystem to strengthen safety measures across the aviation sector. Two teams led by the Joint Director General, DGCA, carried out comprehensive surveillance during the night and early morning hours at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
The surveillance covered multiple critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic control (ATC), communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations. Throughout the surveillance, ground activities and aircraft movements were closely monitored to check compliance with regulatory requirements and to identify weak areas for improvement, according to the ministry.
Multiple cases wherein the reported defects reappeared many times on the aircraft, indicating the ineffective monitoring and inadequate rectification action on the defects/repeated defects; Ground handling equipment such as baggage trollies, BFL, etc were found unserviceable; Line maintenance stores, tool control procedures were not followed.
During maintenance of the aircraft, the work order was not followed; The unserviceable thrust reverser system and Flap Slat Lever were not locked; During maintenance, safety precautions were found not taken by AME as per AMM; at places, the AME was not attending to the snag rectification; Defect reports generated by the aircraft system, were not found recorded in the technical logbook; Several life vests were not properly secured beneath their designated seats; The corrosion-resistant tape on the right-hand side winglet's lower blade was found to be damaged, the ministry stated in a release.
Similarly at an airport, the centre line marking of the runway was observed to fade; The rapid exit taxiway and green centre lights were not unidirectional; the obstruction limitation data has not been updated for the last three years and no survey has been performed despite many new constructions around the vicinity of the aerodrome; number of vehicles in the ramp area were found without speed governors. These vehicles were withdrawn by cancelling their AVP, and the drivers' ADP were suspended, the release said.
A simulator was checked and found not to match the aircraft configuration. The software was also not updated to the current version, it added.
Civil Aviation Ministry said that a domestic flight of a scheduled carrier was cancelled due to worn tyres, and it was released only after the required rectification was carried out. All the findings observed during the surveillance have been communicated to the concerned operators for taking necessary corrective actions within seven days.
This process of comprehensive surveillance will continue in future to detect hazards in the system in line with the Order No. DGCA-22034/2/2025-FSD on June 19.
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