India's civil aviation watchdog directs Air India to remove 3 officials

NEW DELHI, June 21 (Xinhua) -- India's civil aviation watchdog -- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) -- has directed Air India to immediately remove three of its senior officials, including a divisional vice president, from all responsibilities related to flight crew scheduling and rostering.

The DGCA, in its order issued on Friday, has asked the airline to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against these officials without delay.

The regulator noted that the three officials -- a divisional vice president, a chief manager of crew scheduling and one planning executive -- have been involved in serious and repeated lapses, including "unauthorised and non-compliant crew pairings, violation of mandatory licensing and recency norms and systemic failures in scheduling protocol and oversight".

The DGCA also warned Air India that future violations in crew scheduling will invite "strict action", including licence suspension and operational restrictions.

Meanwhile, Air India Saturday said it has acknowledged the DGCA directive and implemented the order.

Last week, a London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, about 17 km south of Gandhinagar, the capital city of India's western state of Gujarat, killing all but one of the 242 people on board.

The accident also killed an unknown number of people on the ground after it crashed at the premises of B J Medical College in the Meghaninagar area, causing severe damage to the buildings.