DGCA grounds Air Asia flight in Pune after tyre found 'cracked'

An Air Asia Aircraft was ‘grounded’ in Pune by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after ‘cracks’ were found in one of its tyres, informed the officials. The decision was taken post the inspection of the flight on the runway in Pune. 

After the pieces of the tread of the Aircraft’s tyre were found on the Bengaluru runway, from where the flight was taxied it was inspected on the Pune runway, said the Civil Aviation regulator. 

Sidewall found ‘cracked’ 

The inspection at the Pune runway revealed cracks were found in the sidewall of the tyre 3, DGCA stated. The flight has been stopped from further take-offs. More information is awaited.

Recently, Air Asia was fined ₹ 20 Lakh by the DGCA for violating the norm of failing to complete certain mandatory checks exercises of pilots, which is also an international Civil Aviation Organisation requirement. 

We acknowledge that a finding related to training exercises of pilots was observed by the DGCA following the main base inspection in November 2022. Immediate corrective action was taken in coordination with DGCA and additional simulator training sessions to address the gap were implemented. Additionally, we had already conducted these exercises as part of simulator training done beyond the mandated regulatory training requirements," the airline said.

Image: PTI