AI pilot unions demand removal of DGCA chief Arun Kumar over Kozhikode plane crash comments

August 11, 2020 20:10

Two leading pilot unions of Air India on Tuesday said DGCA chief Arun Kumar must be immediately replaced with a suitable candidate with substantial knowledge of the aviation sector and operational experience as his comments on news channels reveal a total lack of technical know-how and an "amateurish view" of the Kozhikode plane crash.

According to the Indian Commercial Pilots' Union and Indian Pilots' Guild, Kumar said during one of the televised interviews that the plane's "landing was not smooth".

On another news channel, Kumar stated that the "two fellows are dead... and the landing it seems was not appropriate", according to a letter jointly written by the two unions to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday.

Pilot-in-command Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, 58, and co-pilot Captain Akhilesh Kumar, 32, were the ones operating the Air India Express flight with 190 that overshot the runway and crashed at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala on Friday night.

Both pilots, along with 16 other people on board, died in the accident.

Air India Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India. The two deceased pilots were not part of either of the two aforementioned unions.

The unions noted, "Whether a landing technique is appropriate or a contributory factor to a mishap can only be ascertained after a thorough, evidence backed investigation and not by speculative, casual remarks."

The above remarks of Kumar on news channels only go to reveal his "total lack of technical knowledge and amateurish view of the unfortunate accident", the letter noted.

-- PTI

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