India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 10,00,000 on Vistara after a co-pilot landed an aircraft at Indore airport on August 9, 2021 under the supervision of a captain who had not undergone simulator training to train a first officer. The DGCA said this “serious violation has endangered the lives of everyone on board.”
According to a senior DGCA official, “Vistara has been fined for violation of takeoff and landing clearance given to first officers without conducting any training. Training is conducted for first officers to land aircraft in a simulator before they can do it on the aircraft with passengers onboard. In the same way, a captain is also trained at a simulator before he or she can give landing to the first officer”.
In a statement, Tata and Singapore Airlines owned Vistara said: “A supervised take off and landing (STOL) was conducted on a flight to Indore in August 2021 under the supervision of an experienced captain. The pilots were adequately trained and in possession of valid STOL certificates issued by their previous employer for which Vistara claimed the credit. Vistara voluntarily reported to regulatory authorities that the same training which was to be conducted again, in line with regulatory requirements, was missed, leading to the regrettable violation. Vistara always puts the safety of passengers and staff as its top priority. ”
