Vistara fined Rs 10L for violating landing norms, ‘risking lives’

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Vistara after a co-pilot landed an aircraft in Indore under the supervision of a captain who had not undergone simulator training to train a first officer.
It said this “serious violation (has endangered) lives of everyone on board” the Airbus A320 operating as UK 913, from Delhi to Indore, on August 9, 2021.
“Vistara has been fined for violation of takeoff and landing clearance given to first officers without conducting any training. Training is conducted for first officer to land aircraft in a simulator before they can do it with passengers onboard. In the same way, a captain is also trained at simulator before he or she can give landing to the first officer,” a DGCA official said.
However, the regulator found that in one instance, a Vistara “aircraft was being landed by first officer without the captain or the first officer trained at the simulator. A penalty of Rs 10 lakh has been levied on the airline,” the official added.