DGCA is to blame, CBI probe needed into Mumbai plane crash, says activist

Almost a week after a 12-seater Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft crashed in Ghatkopar, killing five people, Yeshwant Shenoy, an activist who had earlier filed a public interest litigation (PIL) over air safety in the country, blamed regulator Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the accident and sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

Shenoy also demanded the fleet maintained by the company repairing the aircraft be grounded until the probe is completed. The aircraft belonging to UY Aviation Pvt Ltd crashed on June 28, a few miles away from the aerodrome where it was to land. Although the cause of the crash is not known yet, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has taken the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to Delhi. Their report is expected to come in six months.

BS Bhullar, director general of DGCA was unavailable for a comment.

Rajeev Gupta, CEO of Indamer Aviation Pvt. Ltd, the company repairing the aircraft, said, “We are assisting AAIB in their investigation and DGCA in the audit process. Indamer is the oldest MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) firm in India and has been functioning since 1939. We have never had an accident or incident in 79 years.”

Shenoy also wrote to Ghatkopar police station with an aim to register an FIR against the maintenance company. He alleged DGCA had issued show-cause notices to the company in 2016, but no action was taken. According to Shenoy, a complaint letter sent to the DGCA in 2016 contained a list of work that was not conducted properly but falsely satisfied, a repair work undertaken on one of the helicopters where it was prohibited, among others.