DGCA decides to crack the whip on GoAir

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is all set to crack the whip on low-cost airline GoAir for its sloppy maintenance work of an aircraft that made a near-fatal landing without a nose wheel at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Thursday.

Over 123 passengers and 15 crew members were on board when the aircraft made the emergency landing.

DGCA has already suspended the licence of a GoAir engineer for not following the rulebook regarding preflight mandatory checks.

Senior civil aviation ministry officials told DNA DGCA was also planning to impose a ban on a US-based company which is in-charge of repairs and overhauling of the GoAir fleet in India.

Sources also said the records and documents relating to the upkeep of the aircraft had established that work was being done shoddily at Mumbai Airport.

A DGCA investigation has found that the bearing used to fix the nose wheel had broken, resulting in its fall after the aircraft took off from Mumbai Airport.

“The bearing used for repairs was of poor quality,” a senior DGCA official said.
The incident of nose wheel falling off when the aircraft, A-320, was mid-air is unprecedented and DGCA’s preliminary investigation has found that the airline staff was careless, which resulted in its dismantling at Mumbai Airport.

“DGCA might also suspend licenses of two more engineers who were in charge of keeping track of repairs of the aircraft,” aviation ministry official said.

k_yogesh@dnaindia.net