Regulator cracks whip on flying schools after audit finds violations

An audit of flying training schools in India has revealed serious violations such as false logging of hours, operation of aircraft with faulty instruments, deficiencies in training procedures among others.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has cracked the whip on the schools after its audit. It has suspended approval to one school, issued warning letters to two managers and suspended seven chief flight instructors for three months to one year. An assistant flying instructor and a student were suspended for three months.

The action comes in the backdrop of a spate of accidents involving aircraft from flying schools. An audit was carried out to assess safety standards and check for deficiencies in operations, maintenance and training. Thirty of the 32 schools in the country have been inspected in the audit beginning March.

The audit also revealed non compliance of DGCA requirement for conduct of breath analyser tests. “ False logging was observed. In a few cases dual flight has been logged as solo flight and in other cases aircraft taxi time was calculated towards the flying time of the student pilot,” the DGCA said in a press release.

It also found that students are not properly trained or brief on emergencies before being released for solo or cross country flights. Trainers are being frequently changed thereby impacting the learning experience of students. It also found that facilities at the airfield/training organization are also not being maintained as per requirements.