‘You are grounded’: DGCA tactic to curb aircraft snags

When Indian airlines started witnessing an increasing number of safety-related incidents over the last few months, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) resorted to a measure generally reserved by aviation safety regulators for exceptional circumstances — grounding of aircraft. While planes with faulty equipment or worn out installations have been grounded on a case-to-case basis, officials at DGCA are of the view that the threat of the financial implications of not flying an aircraft has prompted airlines into conducting better maintenance of their planes.

“We have grounded 16 planes over the last few months — 12 SpiceJet, two GoFirst and two Air India. Most of these planes have now been released to service.