The inspection report said the team did not find any written communication for the delegation of authority to the auditor. "Also other than verbal confirmation by CFS, there were no email correspondences and authorisation by the CFS for the aforementioned sport checks," it said.
As per the inspection report, regarding the Pre-Flight Medical Examination (alcohol consumption test of pilots), Air India claimed that it carried out the spot check but the team found that the airline's internal auditor "had not physically visited the facility which is mandatory to satisfy many items of the checklist".
Advertisement"Also, the equipment details and test readings have not been noted on the checklist. Merely, all the points have been marked as satisfactory without actually performing the spot check," it said.
With respect to ramp services, the inspection team found that the airline's spot check list mentioned the name of a person as the duty officer but there was no such person in the said shift.
"It has also been confirmed by the auditee department that there were no spot checks carried out on the subject date in the said area. Merely, all the points have been marked as satisfactory without actually performing the spot check," it said.
As far as spot check in cabin surveillance was concerned, the inspection team found that the airline claimed to have done it on July 16, 2023, but it was not done and "the claimed auditor was merely travelling in the said flight as a passenger with family members".
Further, the inspection team said the airline was unable to provide the flight safety auditors list on time.
"Subsequently, the list was only provided at the end of the inspection which included the auditors of QMS as well whose qualification/eligibility is different from that stipulated in the FSM (Flight Safety Manual). As the QMS does not come under the ambit of DGCA, the CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) doesn't specify the qualifications of the QMS auditors," the team said.
Further, the operator was unable to provide the actual flight safety auditors' list and their authorisations when sought by the inspection team to differentiate the flight safety from the QMS auditors, it added.
"All aviation companies, including Air India, are subject to regular safety audits by regulators and other bodies both in India and overseas.
"Air India actively engages in such audits to continually assess and strengthen our processes. We directly address any matters raised with the authority concerned," the Air India spokesperson said in the statement.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
