Days after the crash, the aviation authority has mandated the dismissal of 3 Air India officials due to their oversights.

On Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a firm directive to Air India, mandating the removal of three of its senior officials from their crew scheduling duties due to ongoing and significant breaches of aviation safety protocols. The officials identified in this directive are Choorah Singh, Divisional Vice President; Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager – DOPS, Crew Scheduling; and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling – Planning.

As per the DGCA order issued on June 20, these individuals were implicated in several infractions, which include unauthorized and non-compliant crew pairings, breaches of licensing and crew rest regulations, as well as systemic failures in oversight. The regulator has now instructed Air India to promptly remove the identified officials from their current operational positions. Additionally, Air India has been mandated to commence internal disciplinary actions against these individuals and to provide a report to the aviation regulatory authority within a span of 10 days. “Internal disciplinary actions must be initiated against these officials without delay, and the results of such actions shall be communicated to this office within 10 days from the issuance of this letter,” stated the DGCA order. Furthermore, the officials are to be reassigned to non-operational positions and are prohibited from holding any role that could directly impact flight safety and crew compliance until further notice.