BackTwo senior Air India officers suspended
The officials suspended on grounds of fudging of records and dereliction of duty
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New Delhi: Two senior officers of Air India have been suspended following instructions from civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on grounds of fudging of records and dereliction of duty.
While Capt R.S. Dhillon, general manager (operations) and in-charge training, was suspended fudging simulator training records, Capt H.Y. Samant, general manager (operations), was suspended and removed from his post for failing to put a crew in place for a Mumbai-Singapore flight that was cancelled last night, an official spokesperson said.
Samant was suspended for “gross dereliction of duty" after the flight (AI-330), scheduled at midnight, was cancelled because of non-availability of crew, led by Dhillon.
A preliminary probe found that Samant knew about Dhillon’s suspension and the non-availability of the crew but did not make any alternative arrangement, resulting in the cancellation of the flight and putting 220 passengers at great inconvenience, the spokesperson said.
The minister asked Air India to conduct an inquiry and take disciplinary action against Samant and others responsible for the lapse. Dhillon was suspended after an investigation into a complaint about alleged irregularities in the conduct of Simulator Sessions at Airbus A-330 Jet Airways Simulator.
The alleged misconduct of Dhillon was brought to the notice of the minister, who directed Air India’s Vigilance Department to investigate.
The spokesperson said the probe established that Dhillon had “not conducted full eight hours of simulator training. In fact, he has conducted less than 4 hours of training".
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