Two AirAsia India top officials, Capt Manish Uppal, head of operations and Capt Mukesh Neema, head of air safety have been suspend...
crucial posts like airline-head of airsafety, head of operations are cleared by the DGCA.
AirAsia India had come under the DGCA scanner in June after one of its pilots, Captain Gaurav Taneja, posted a 27 minute video on his YouTube channel (Flying Beast), alleging that airline had been violating certain safety norms in order to cut fuel costs. In a tweet, he alleged that he was placed suspension by AirAsia India “for standing up for safe operations of the of aircraft and its passengers”.
The tweet went viral, following which the DGCA began a probe into the allegations and later in June, issued a show cause notice to Capt Uppal, Capt Neema and the CEO of the airline. Meanwhile, on June 26, capt Taneja was terminated by the airline. He was terminated following an inquiry conducted by officials, including capt Neema the very parstion against whom Taneja had made allegations,’’ said advocate yeshwant shenoy, one of capt Taneja's lawyers. AirAsia India spokesperson was not reachable for comment . "Pilots are always afraid to raise issues, especially in thes time of jub insecurities due the COVID pandemic’s impact on the airline industry. I’ve always been telling them that if they stand up for safety violations, it will have to be addressed by the system. These the best example of that,"said shenoy. Speaking about the resent air India Express Calicut crash that killed 18people last week, Advocat Shenoy added: "Had pilots stood up for safety issues, Calicut could certainly have been avoided. There would be many more to com." Capt Taneja’s spokesperson said that the DGCA had suspended capt Uppal and capt Neeam over safety violations flagged by him.
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