Ahmedabad: Three of Air India's (AI) four flight simulators in Mumbai are dysfunctional, which has resulted in least 30 pilots being withdrawn from active duty. According to sources in the national carrier, with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms mandating that pilots log eight flight hours in a simulator every six months before being cleared to fly, the malfunctioning simulators will cause more airmen to be grounded. The three training devices, which recreate multiple real-time emergency scenarios to maintain the airline crew's level of preparedness, developed glitches over a month ago.
Air India operates a simulator each for its fleet of 737Gs, 747s, 777s and one 787 Dreamliner, all manufactured by Boeing. Of these, the device that replicates the cockpit of a 777 is wholly inoperable, while those that duplicate the flying environments of the 787 and the 737 are defective. "About 30 pilots who operate Boeing 777s are unavailable to fly as a result of the simulator being down," said an AI pilot, who asked not to be named as he isn't authorised to speak to the media. "As days pass, the number of pilots unable to fly will only increase."
Senior AI officials told Mumbai Mirror that they had sought slots from Jet Airways, which operates Boeing-777 simulators in Bangalore, to make up for training hours lost. An inspection of the 737 simulator, conducted by the flight standard directorate last week revealed that it was "in bad condition". The device is operated by AI's sister concern, Air India Express (AIE). "However, as a shutdown [of the simulator] would affect the airline adversely, the DGCA allowed it to be operated after downgrading it, which limits its use to licence renewal checks as opposed to emergency training procedure."
12/02/15 Aditya Anand/Ahmedabad Mirror
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Air India operates a simulator each for its fleet of 737Gs, 747s, 777s and one 787 Dreamliner, all manufactured by Boeing. Of these, the device that replicates the cockpit of a 777 is wholly inoperable, while those that duplicate the flying environments of the 787 and the 737 are defective. "About 30 pilots who operate Boeing 777s are unavailable to fly as a result of the simulator being down," said an AI pilot, who asked not to be named as he isn't authorised to speak to the media. "As days pass, the number of pilots unable to fly will only increase."
Senior AI officials told Mumbai Mirror that they had sought slots from Jet Airways, which operates Boeing-777 simulators in Bangalore, to make up for training hours lost. An inspection of the 737 simulator, conducted by the flight standard directorate last week revealed that it was "in bad condition". The device is operated by AI's sister concern, Air India Express (AIE). "However, as a shutdown [of the simulator] would affect the airline adversely, the DGCA allowed it to be operated after downgrading it, which limits its use to licence renewal checks as opposed to emergency training procedure."
12/02/15 Aditya Anand/Ahmedabad Mirror
