India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a formal warning to Air India after it was found operating Airbus aircraft with overdue inspections on critical emergency equipment, specifically escape slides. The alert follows spot checks conducted in May, which revealed that three Air India Airbus planes had flown without mandatory safety checks being completed on time.
According to the DGCA report, one Airbus A320 jet had its escape slide inspection delayed by over a month before finally being completed on May 15. During this period, the aircraft operated international routes to destinations including Dubai, Riyadh, and Jeddah. Another Airbus A319 used on domestic flights was found to have missed inspections by more than three months, while a third plane’s inspection was two days overdue.
The DGCA stated that operating aircraft with expired or unverified emergency equipment constitutes a serious violation of airworthiness and safety regulations. The regulator also criticized Air India for its slow response in addressing these deficiencies, citing weak procedural controls and oversight.
This warning is unrelated to last week’s tragic crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8, which resulted in the loss of 241 lives.
Air India, now under Tata Group ownership since 2022, acknowledged the issues and said it is “accelerating” the verification of all maintenance records, including escape slide inspections, aiming to complete the process in the coming days. The airline noted that one issue came to light when an engineer inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance.
The DGCA continues to monitor Air India’s compliance closely to ensure passenger safety is upheld.