Notice to Air India, SpiceJet for failing to roster qualified pilots despite low visibility in Delhi

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to Air India and SpiceJet for rostering pilots who were not compliant with CAT III standards during periods of low visibility at Delhi airport, which resulted in numerous diversions of flights bound for Delhi.

A senior DGCA official confirmed that the notice was issued after discovering that a significant number of flight diversions at Indira Gandhi International Airport were attributed to these airlines assigning non-CAT III compliant pilots. These pilots lacked the necessary training for take-offs and landings in low-visibility conditions.

Between the nights of December 24-25 and 27-28, Delhi Airport experienced over 50 diversions due to fog-induced low visibility.

“The airlines have been given fifteen days to respond,” ANI quoted the official as saying.

On 26 December, flight operations at IGI Airport were severely impacted as visibility plummeted to 50 meters, considered virtually zero visibility. Although visibility briefly improved to 75 meters at 8:30 am, it again dropped to 50 meters.

The advisory issued by Delhi airport urged passengers to contact their respective airlines for updated flight information, acknowledging potential disruptions for non-CAT III compliant flights during landings and take-offs.

To address the issue, the airport authorities activated the CAT-III Instrument Landing System (ILS), also known as the anti-fog landing system, providing a precision approach and landing capability when runway visibility is low.

With inputs from agencies