'Unfit' plane takes off as ambulance

New Delhi: What does an aircraft charter company do after its plane has had a ground mishap and damages its wing? Well, operate its overseas charter flight by posing to be an ambulance carrying a patient without reporting the incident and having the plane grounded for checks.
This is precisely what is alleged to have happened at the Delhi airport a few days ago and earned the company a notice from a fuming Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). According to sources, a hawker aircraft of the private charter company recently hit a toilet cubicle and damaged its wing tip.
Instead of reporting this incident and having the plane examined for damages before flying it again as per safety norms, the company reportedly operated its next charter flight to Singapore in the garb of operating a medical emergency. Once an aircraft is damaged, airlines are supposed to report incidents so that the plane is thoroughly examined for damages and it can fly again only after being deemed safe for operation.
However, this private company allegedly said the plane had to fly to Singapore as an `ambulance'. "No details of patient, doctor or hospital were given. In the garb of operating an ambulance flight, it flew to Singapore with the damaged tip and returned later,'' said sources.
This is the second recent instance of companies trying to conceal information of incidents to avoid their planes getting grounded. A few weeks ago, one side tyre of a leading airline's plane veered off the runway in Mumbai. The plane, however, operated its next flight as per schedule. The airline had to answer tough questions next day when tyre marks were found on grass track near the runway by bird scarers and matching the marks led them to the carrier.
16/03/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2009, Safety Mar 2009