Indian Aviation Regulator Audit Flags Safety Gaps Across Airlines and Airports

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India’s aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday released a set of findings from special audits conducted at major airports. DGCA found a number of safety lapses, many of which reflect recurring issues, prompting questions around the enforcement of basic standards in India’s aviation ecosystem.

DGCA launched the audits less than two weeks after the June 12 crash of an Air India Dreamliner departing Ahmedabad. The audits covered critical areas like aircraft maintenance, airport operations, air traffic services, and training simulators. While not naming specific airlines or airports, the findings released on Tuesday point to a broader failure to catch and fix known problems.

DGCA said its inspection teams visited major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, and found repeated technical faults on aircraft that airlines had previously claimed to have already fixed. They noted “multiple cases wherein the reported defects reappeared many times on the aircraft,” which suggested that airlines either didn’t repair the issues properly or skipped them altogether.

The inspection also led to the delay of a domestic flight as it had “worn tyres.” The aviation regulator said the flight took off only after engineers fixed the issue.

Even the flight simulators had problems. Inspectors found that one simulator didn’t “match with the aircraft configuration” and the software also hadn’t been updated.

Some of the audit findings were:

Life vests weren’t properly secured under the seats.
Corrosion-resistant tape on the lower blade of the right winglet was damaged.
Ground handling equipment like baggage trollies and lifts were “found unserviceable.”
Maintenance staff didn’t follow proper procedures. In many cases, DGCA noted that “safety precautions found not taken by AME (Aircraft Maintenance Engineer) as per AMM (Aircraft Maintenance Manual).”
Some AMEs didn’t fix reported snags and failed to log alerts from the aircraft systems.

At one airport, the runway center line was faded, and officials hadn’t updated “obstruction limitation data” for three years.

On the ramp, several vehicles didn’t have speed limiters. Authorities pulled those vehicles out of service and suspended the drivers’ airport passes.

The June 12 crash triggered widespread concern. In response, DGCA deployed two teams led by joint director generals to inspect operations during night and early morning hours. The regulator has since rolled out a new Comprehensive Special Audit Framework.

According to DGCA, this framework will move beyond the old, narrow approach where different departments inspected only their piece of the puzzle. Instead, it will “generate a 360-degree evaluation of the aviation ecosystem,” including scheduled and charter airlines, training schools, airports, maintenance companies, and even ground handling staff.

DGCA launched these audits after safety incidents or signs of poor compliance, but it also plans to carry out regular reviews. It gives entities 14 days’ notice for routine audits, 3 days for follow-ups, or inspects them without warning when urgent safety concerns arise.

The DGCA has asked all concerned entities to respond to the audit findings with a corrective action plan within seven days. Depending on how serious the violation is, companies could face anything from written warnings to suspension of licenses.

The regulator has said it will monitor how these companies fix the problems through follow-up audits and ongoing review. It also said that any good practices that the authorities spot during the inspections will be shared across the industry to improve standards overall.

On Saturday, DGCA also ordered Air India to remove three senior employees from crew scheduling duties, citing previous violations of pilot rest and licensing rules.

The action, however, was not directly related to the June 12 crash, which brought additional scrutiny to Air India's operations. DGCA said there have been multiple violations after Air India switched its internal crew scheduling software last year.

Post the crash, the aviation regulator also asked Air India to conduct a one-time inspection of these planes before any departure from India, including checks on the aircraft’s engines, cabin air compressors, take-off parameters, and more.