DGCA Grounds Two Air India Pilots Due to Airline Rostering Mix-Up

New Delhi: Two Air India pilots, including a trainee, have been grounded by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) due to a serious oversight by the airline’s rostering department. The trainee was supposed to fly under the supervision of a training captain, but a mix-up resulted in the flight being operated without the proper crew complement.

The trainee pilot was scheduled to operate the Mumbai-Riyadh flight on July 9, 2024, with a training captain. Upon landing in Riyadh, the trainee would have had the training captain sign his Supervised Line Flying (SLF) form. However, the training captain fell ill, and the rostering department replaced him with a regular line captain instead of a training captain. 

Sources said, "En route Riyadh, the two pilots discovered a mix-up, which was not their fault but a result of a scheduling error. The other pilot, not being a training captain, could not sign the trainee's Supervised Line Flying (SLF) form. Neither pilot was aware of this discrepancy at the time—the trainee did not know he needed a training captain, and the other pilot was unaware of the trainee's requirement. This oversight stemmed from a failure in the crew management system (CMS) to ensure the correct crew complement. Upon realizing the issue, the pilots filed a voluntary report with the base manager, and the airline subsequently informed the regulator."

A senior DGCA official stated that the two pilots have been removed from flying duties. The regulator is investigating who was responsible for the oversight that led to the mix-up. According to sources, some Air India officials have been summoned to the regulator’s office to address accountability. Air India sources acknowledge that a series of oversights contributed to the error. Once the issue was investigated and the lapse identified, it was voluntarily reported to the DGCA.