‘DIAL responsible for airport mishap’
NEW DELHI : The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has held the airport operator, Delhi International Airport Limited (Dial), responsible for the incident at Delhi airport in August last year, where an Ethiopian Airline’s plane carrying 196 passengers hit a parked Air India plane.
The DGCA stated that probable cause was improper stand allocation made by the aerodrome personnel without following the standard operating procedures.
The regulatory body, which has recently submitted its final investigation report to the ministry of aviation, recommended that “necessary action be taken with respect to Dial personnel for their lapses in allocation of aircraft stands.”
The DGCA, in its report, also mentioned that action may be taken against Dial for using “ad-hoc” aircraft stands without publishing in the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP).
On August 9, 2017, the Ethiopian Airline’s aircraft, Boeing B-767, operating from Delhi to Addis Ababa, carrying 196 passengers, got involved in the ground incident at 2.10 am when it was being pushed back from stand 87.
The aircraft’s right wing tip got entangled with the left sharklet of the Air India’s A320 aircraft, which was parked on the adjacent aircraft stand 86 L.
The DGCA had then begun an inquiry into the incident.
In the final report, DGCA has also said that the non-availability of wing walkers (ground staff) during pushback of Ethiopian aircraft was a contributory factor to the accident.
Reacting to this, Dial said that
it had immediately reworked the issues related to the personnel and resource allocation system after its internal investigation.
“Dial also mandated the use of wing walkers for all ground handling movements. Besides, Dial on a priority basis, provided rigorous trainings to all the associated staff. It also suspended the alleged staff during the DGCA investigation. It undertook modifications in AIP and took corrective actions within 30 days of the incident. It is noteworthy, that the findings of our internal investigations and that of DGCA were aligned,” a spokesperson said.
A senior DGCA official said, “The incident was not fatal. None of the passengers were injured. During the probe, Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC ) Air Traffic Control coordinator said that the Air India flight allocated on stand 86 was changed to 86 L to maximise bay utilisation and so that 86 R could be available in case of requirement.”