Tuesday, April 29, 2025

‘Probe unwarranted in violation of safety norms by pilots’

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By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has made it clear that no investigation is warranted in the recent report of violation of safety norms by Alliance Air pilots, a subsidiary of the national carrier Air India.

In a letter forwarded to the State Transport department on the incident, the under secretary to the Government of India SK Chhikara has said, “Since no untoward incident has been reported from Barapani airport, no investigation is warranted”.

The State Government earlier had sought a probe into the alleged violation of safety norms by Alliance Air pilots after two pilots working for Alliance Air in Kolkata allegedly violated basic safety rules putting hundreds of lives at risk.

However, the report by the Ministry of Civil Aviation has stated that runways 04 and 22 at Shillong airport are used for both arrival and departure and both are not restricted as unidirectional.

“The Alliance Air flight on March 20 used runway 22 for arrival due to strong winds gusting to 30 knots,” the letter added

A TV news channel had earlier claimed that on March 20, a pilot operating a flight from Shillong to Kolkata, decided at the last minute to change the runway and chose the one which was not permitted to be used.

It may be mentioned that there were close to 30 passengers on the Alliance Air flight which operates low-cost flights between cities like Kolkata and others in the North East.

It was reported that runway 22, which was used by the pilot, is very short and faces a range of hills, factors that could lead to a crash. The airline in fact forbids its pilots from using Runway 22 – a diktat the pilot ignored at the last minute,” the report said.

It also alleged that another pilot ignored precautions he was asked to take due to his serious medical condition.

“About safety norms being compromised by the pilot, no specific name was mentioned,” the report added.

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