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AI operates flight with 'unserviceable' door!

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The incident may have compromised safety, but it is not a one-off case
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In a case that may have compromised the safety of passengers, the pilot of an Air India flight, on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad leg, was directed by a senior airline executive to declare one of the doors of the aircraft as "unserviceable", on account of a shortage of crew and to avoid consequent delay.

The incident happened last Sunday when flight AI 144 arrived in Mumbai from Newark and was to proceed to Ahmedabad. The pilot refused to comply with the order and the flight got delayed by about four hours.

On Wednesday, the pilot was derostered and ten cabin crew members suspended for not reporting for duty on time.

Airline sources said on Saturday that the action against the pilot was wrong as he would not operate the flight without the adequate crew complement.

This was also why the executive director of in-flight service, Harpreet Singh, asked the pilot to declare one of the doors "unserviceable". The pilot did not obey as it would amount to a violation of safety rules laid down by the Directorate of Civil Aviation. In fact, the flight line engineer also refused to sign the flight report book, saying he would only if pilot declared it "unserviceable".

The pilot and the engineer subsequently wrote about the shortage of crew members on account of which one of the doors was being declared as "unserviceable" and that the flight's take-off was cleared at the highest level.

As serious as it is, the incident does not seem to be a one-off case. A recent internal communication in the engineering dept states: "Of late, line engineers are under pressure from other agencies to declare doors unserviceable for other than technical reasons by quoting a DGCA circular. The circular is not addressed to the engineering dept and does not state that doors are to be declared unserviceable and released under Minimum Equipment List."

It further states that if such a situation arises, line engineers should make a noting only after the pilot writes in the record book that the door is "unserviceable". Line engineers must also mention that the door has been declared "unserviceable" on account of inadequate crew complement.

The minimum crew complement for various aircraft is set under section 38(B) of the Aircraft Act. Any reduction in the crew number is allowed only in special cases, but definitely not from base points. Mumbai is a base point for Air India.

When contacted, Harpreet Singh acknowledged that she had told the pilot to note one door "unserviceable" as there were fewer passengers on the flight which could be managed with a fewer number of crew members. "I asked the pilot to do this as per the applicable law so that the flight was not delayed and safety was not compromised".

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