New Delhi: Two Air India pilots, including a student pilot, have been grounded by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for a serious lapse by the airline's rostering department. The student pilot was supposed to fly under the supervision of a captain, but this did not happen due to a mix-up and the flight was not operated by the correct crew strength.

The student pilot was scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Riyadh on July 9, 2024 with a trainee captain. Upon landing in Riyadh, the young student pilot would have asked the student pilot to sign his SLF (Supervised Line Flying) form. However, the student pilot fell ill and was replaced by a regular student pilot (not a trainee pilot).

“On the way, the two pilots noticed this mix-up (which was not their fault) by the planning department. The other pilot could not sign the form as he was not a training captain. The trainee could not have known this. And the other pilot could not have known that the trainee was to fly under the supervision of a training captain. This was an oversight of the Crew Management System (CMS) which could not ensure proper crew manning. The two pilots noticed what had happened and filed a voluntary report with the base manager,” sources said. The airline then voluntarily reported it to the regulator.

A senior DGCA official said the two pilots were de-rostered (taken off flying duty). The regulator is apparently investigating whose oversight led to this mix-up. Some AI officials have been called to the regulator's office to clarify who was responsible, sources say.

AI sources admit that there were a number of oversights that led to this mix-up. As soon as the matter was investigated and the error was discovered, it was voluntarily reported to the DGCA, the sources said. AI was approached for comment on the matter and waited till the time of going to press.