Finally some action made by DGCA
MUMBAI: A senior SpiceJet pilot lost his licence to test other pilots after he flew a Boeing 737 with his unqualified son in the co-pilot's seat in the cruise phase of three commercial flights between Delhi, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. The incident occurred during a training routine.
The examiner's son was a fresh commercial pilot licence holder who had joined SpiceJet as a trainee. In May last year, at the time of the incident, he was not type-rated for Boeing 737 but his dad let him into the cockpit. The test pilot, who's also a SpiceJet general manager, was stripped of his examiner status for five years last month by the DGCA after several probes.
A fresh CPL holder is generally trained only to fly piston-engine aircraft that operate at speeds in the range of 80-130 knots (150-240 kmph) and need only a single pilot.
Aircraft like B737 demands several crew and operates at speeds of more than 300 knots (over 555 kmph). In 1994, a probe into the crash of a Russian Aeroflot flight that killed 75 passengers and crew revealed that the pilot's 15-year-old son was at the controls of the A310 aircraft.
"A training captain acting on behalf of DGCA and a licence holder is expected to display discipline, professionalism and ensure compliance of the regulatory frame work," said the DGCA order of November 19. "In matters of air safety, leeway is given to no one. These kind of matters also bring a bad name to the sector and will not be tolerated," said director-general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan. TOI sent a questionnaire to SpiceJet on Monday but the airline said its spokesperson was not available for comment.
"The examiner's son occupied the co-pilot's seat on SpiceJet's Delhi-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Coimbatore and Coimbatore-Delhi flights, all of which were operated on 17 May, 2009," said a source.
The three flights were flown by three trainee commanders who were undergoing their upgrade training under the instructorship of the suspended examiner. An upgrade training moves a co-pilot to a commander's position. During such flights, the trainee commander occupies the left-hand seat and the examiner is on the right, that is, the co-pilot's seat.
However, during the above mentioned three flights, the examiner's son occupied the right-hand seat after the aircraft was cruising. The examiner himself was in jump seat, located behind the pilot's seat. "Had there been an emergency, the trainee commander would not have been able to handle it," said the source. The SpiceJet violation case came under DGCA lens after then DGCA boss Nasim Zaidi received an anonymous mail in July last year.