New Delhi: Air India pilots have requested the aviation regulator to reconsider its order banning crew members who are not rostered to operate a flight from travelling in the cockpit of that flight as additional crew member (ACM). The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had banned this common practice after a senior pilot working with AI on contract was found tipsy in pre-flight breath analyser (BA) test before doing ACM travel on a Delhi-Bengaluru flight which did not have any vacant seat in the passenger cabin on July 13.
Following this instance, the regulator two days later issued an order banning travel of airline officials like pilots and engineers from travelling in cockpits when on leave or when not rostered to operate those flights. Now Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA, union of erstwhile Indian Airlines’ pilots) wants this order to be revoked.
“..This, we feel, is a knee-jerk reaction by your officers to a recent incident, where a pilot who intended to travel as ACM failed his BA test. just because one individual failed a BA test, prohibiting the entire set of professionals from traveling as ACM is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” a letter sent by ICPA to DGCA chief Arun Kumar on Thursday says.
It goes on to say that an extra “qualified crew member is always an asset in the cockpit… it enhances the level of safety and also security in the cockpit. If an emergency situation arises in the cockpit, the ACM will be of invaluable assistance.”
ICPA cites the case of United Flight 232 where a captain traveling as ACM “assisted the crew of the flight which had suffered the loss of all three hydraulic systems in the aircraft. It was only with the help of the ACM that” the flight landed safely.
01/08/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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Following this instance, the regulator two days later issued an order banning travel of airline officials like pilots and engineers from travelling in cockpits when on leave or when not rostered to operate those flights. Now Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA, union of erstwhile Indian Airlines’ pilots) wants this order to be revoked.
“..This, we feel, is a knee-jerk reaction by your officers to a recent incident, where a pilot who intended to travel as ACM failed his BA test. just because one individual failed a BA test, prohibiting the entire set of professionals from traveling as ACM is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” a letter sent by ICPA to DGCA chief Arun Kumar on Thursday says.
It goes on to say that an extra “qualified crew member is always an asset in the cockpit… it enhances the level of safety and also security in the cockpit. If an emergency situation arises in the cockpit, the ACM will be of invaluable assistance.”
ICPA cites the case of United Flight 232 where a captain traveling as ACM “assisted the crew of the flight which had suffered the loss of all three hydraulic systems in the aircraft. It was only with the help of the ACM that” the flight landed safely.
01/08/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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