DGCA Action on Indigo Cancellation: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) itself is now under the scanner in the IndiGo cancellation crisis. The reason for these questions is the action of DGCA, in which the regulator had dismissed four of its own officers. In fact, suddenly on the late evening of 11th December, an office order was issued under the signature of DGCA Deputy Director Sunil Singh Rawat, in which four pilots posted as Flight Operation Inspector (Aeroplane) were dismissed with immediate effect.
The names of the dismissed pilots included Deputy Chief Flight Operating Inspector (Aeroplane) Rishiraj Chatterjee, Senior Flight Operating Inspector (Aeroplane) Seema Jhamnani, Flight Operating Inspector (Aeroplane) Anil Kumar Pokhriyal and Flight Operating Inspector (Aeroplane) Priyam Kaushik. Except Seema Jhamnani, all three pilots were working as consultants in DGCA. It is now being claimed that the four dismissed pilots had no direct connection with the Indigo FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) issue.
Amidst all this the most shocking thing has also come to light. It is being claimed that one of the dismissed pilots, Anil Pokhriyal, is fighting a serious disease of cancer. He had resigned from his post a month ago. In such a situation, what is the point of dismissing the consultants who have already left the job in the name of action? Not only this, the claim is even going so far that the pilots who have been dismissed had no connection whatsoever with the FDTL Committee. The DGCA officers who were in the FDTL committee of IndiGo are currently a part of the investigation team.
Aviation expert Sanjay Lazarus has written this for Captain Anil Kumar Pokhriyal in his post on social media platform X.
I have just discovered a shocking truth that some of these four pilots are being made scapegoats for someone else’s crime. Captain Pokhriyal is currently in the hospital and has advanced stage cancer. He had resigned a long time ago. He had nothing to do with FDTL. Not even the remaining two people. These people are being deliberately implicated. – Sanjay Lazarus, Aviation Expert
At the same time, a similar post has been written by aviation expert Sanjay Lazar on the social media platform X Post regarding the flight operating inspector (aeroplane) Priyam Kaushik, who was dismissed in this case.
Captain Priyam Kaushik is a national hero. On June 15, 2016, he saved the lives of 65 passengers when a Jet Airways ATR plane caught fire in Bengaluru. His bravery was praised in the newspapers at that time. He flew one of the initial flights to India under Operation Kaveri. This was a joint rescue operation of the Indian Air Force and Civil Aviation, through which the stranded Indians were brought back to the country. He is the son of a defense officer, but the DGCA betrayed and publicly embarrassed him. An innocent hero, whose young children have been deeply affected by this false and public humiliation. Children are feeling shy and afraid to go out. His wife cried on the phone and said that she did not care about the post, but making false allegations against an army family was absolutely unacceptable. – Sanjay Lazarus, Aviation Expert
Aviation expert Sanjay Lazar has also written something similar for Captain Rishiraj Chatterjee. In his X post, he has described Captain Rishiraj as a person with a bad image.
Captain Rishi Chatterjee is a pilot with more than 30 years of flying experience. He has been an examiner in Vistara and flies Boeing 787 planes. His record has been completely spotless. As Assistant Chief Pilot, he developed Vistara’s Standard Operating Procedures and always maintained the highest standards of professionalism, safety and integrity. – Sanjay Lazarus, Aviation Expert
No inquiry, no questions, direct dismissal
While talking to StuffUnknownIndia, one of the four pilots dismissed from DGCA told that neither any investigation was done in this matter nor any effort was made to know the facts. At around 7.30 pm on 11th December, an office order was sent to me and I was told that he had been dismissed from his post. Not even once has he been asked any question in this matter. He is simply being made a scapegoat.
He told that he was working only as a consultant in DGCA. He could only give his advice in any matter, the power to take decisions was in the hands of the Joint DG. His role as APUOI in DGCA was only to tell whether the aircraft and crew of an airline have the capability to fly to a destination or not. He has never been a part of Indigo FDTL committee. His role was limited only to SOP and manual.
