Earlier than the Air India crash: Violations that went unflagged, unpunished

As per knowledge tabled in Parliament, between 2020 and January 2025, Indian home carriers reported 2,461 technical faults, with Indigo Airways alone accounting for greater than half of them. Air India and its subsidiaries reported 389 faults, together with severe security breaches, similar to pairing non-qualified crew on worldwide flights.

Regardless of these violations, enforcement has been weak, and finances cuts proceed.

The DGCA’s strategy to audits has been fragmented and reactive, typically triggered by incidents somewhat than proactive risk-based assessments. A obvious instance emerged in 2023 when Air India was discovered to have fabricated inner security audit experiences at main airports with solid paperwork signed by unauthorised personnel and no proof of precise inspections. This scandal, uncovered by a whistleblower, not solely highlighted airline malpractice but additionally the DGCA’s incapacity to detect and forestall such frauds.

Requires reform have grown louder through the years. Aviation security consultants and stakeholders are demanding an impartial Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) with statutory autonomy, enforcement powers and insulation from political and trade affect. With out such structural reforms, audits will stay mere eyewash, unable to revive belief or forestall future tragedies.

Constructing violations galore

Between 2020 and 2025, the difficulty of unauthorised buildings within the neighborhood of airports and buildings violating peak restrictions round Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Worldwide Airport (CSMIA) has seen authorized motion.

Quite a few buildings exceed the prescribed peak restrict. This obstructs the flight path of plane, posing a hazard throughout takeoff and touchdown. This long-standing concern was introduced into sharper focus by a PIL filed in 2019 by aviation security activist Yeshwant Shenoy, who urged the Bombay Excessive Courtroom to direct elimination of those hazardous buildings.