Shillong:
Just two days after NDTV reported that pilots of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of national carrier Air India, violated basic safety rules, risking lives of hundreds of passengers, the Meghalaya government has sought a probe to verify the report.
NDTV on Thursday reported that two pilots working for Alliance Air in Kolkata have violated basic safety rules in the last three months.
Alliance Air - which is a subsidiary of national carrier Air India - operates low-cost flights popular between cities like Kolkata and others in the North East.
Records from the airline show that on March 20, a pilot operating a flight from Shillong to Kolkata decided at the last minute to change the runway he would use to take-off. Close to 30 passengers were on board. Records show there were strong winds near the airport. So the pilot decided to abandon Runway 04, used for virtually every plane taking off from Shillong. That's because the other runway -22 - is very short and faces a range of hills, factors that could lead to a crash. Alliance Air in fact forbids its pilots from using Runway 22 - a diktat the pilot ignored at the last minute.
The safety violation was noted by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Shillong Airport but it did not file a complaint with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulatory body for all airlines.
In another case of a basic safety law being broken, an Alliance Air pilot, who has a serious medical condition, has ignored the precautions required of him. NDTV has medical records filed with the DGCA that show this pilot's illness requires for another pilot, trained on the same aircraft, to accompany him. Basically, if the pilot has a medical emergency, there has to be someone equally experienced who can take over the controls.
But rosters for Alliance Air show this pilot has flown nearly 40 flights with at least 1200 passengers on board with a co-pilot not trained to operate a similar plane.
Alliance Air in Kolkata has a functional Flight Safety Department - the job of this 2-member team is to ensure that its staff and crew are following the rules. When contacted, the airline said, "Air India strictly follows the rules, guidelines and procedures laid out by the regulator. It has an enviable track record of maintaining the highest standards of safety - both of its passengers and employees. No compromises are made on issues of safety."