Air India Peegate Incident 'Most Embarrassing For Indian Aviation', Says DGCA Chief

The incident involving Air India's urination is deemed "embarrassing" for Indian aviation by DGCA.

Chief of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Kumar.

Source : File Photo/PTI

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) DG Arun Kumar on Thursday said the most embarrassing time for Indian aviation was the urination incident at Air India, reported news agency ANI. In recent times, the story about Air India has made the country known for its problems with aviation. According to DGCA chief Arun Kumar, "two incidents of Air India were more embarrassing but not dangerous but we have taken action against them also." “Such incidents are very rarely reported and if this is happening and the matter is reported with us (DGCA), we are taking action against them,” he added.

“The most difficult task in my tenure were the incidents like failure of jet engines in the air in my early days in DGCA, it was very challenging for me as a chief of aviation regulator to ask airlines to change the engines as soon as possible,” said Arun Kumar, who is leaving his position as head of the DGCA.

According to Arun Kumar, who spoke with ANI, "the engines were of the same company, they were of Airbus family, when all the faulty engines were asked to be changed, Airbus including the airlines gave one-and-a-half year’s time but DGCA gave three months time to change it with the condition that if not changed we would ground the aircraft."

The most crucial aspect of any aviation industry is ensuring the safety of passengers, and the nation places a high value on this aspect.

In 2019, ANI reported that the DGCA instructed IndiGo and GoAir to refrain from operating Neo aircraft equipped with two Pratt & Whitney 1100 series engines that have logged more than 3,000 hours combined. In 2019, Indigo had 16 of these aircraft, compared to GoAir's 13 at the time.