India’s air regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation has reprimanded Air India Express for allegedly falsifying maintenance records.
A confidential report says the DGCA found the budget airline didn’t replace engine parts of an Airbus A320 in a timely manner under a European Union aviation safety directive and then falsified records to show it had complied.
The airline acknowledged it and said it took ‘remedial action and preventive measures.’
Air India Express is the low-cost subsidiary of Air India, and owned by the Tata Group.
The issue related to CFM International LEAP-1A engines, which required the replacement of several parts including engine seals.
The directive warned that ‘if not corrected, it could lead to failure of affected parts, possibly resulting in high energy debris release and reduced control of, the aircraft.’
The DGCA report said: “In order to show that the work has been carried out within the prescribed limits, the AMOS records have apparently been altered/forged.”
It ‘indicates that the accountable manager has failed to ensure quality control.’
The airline removed the manager from duty and suspended the deputy continuing airworthiness manager.
Tata Group and Air India Group airlines have been under extra scrutiny in recent weeks following the Ahmedabad air crash which killed all but one person aboard the Boeing Dreamliner flight.
