9 show cause notices to Air India in 6 months over safety violations: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

The Ministry stated that enforcement action has been completed regarding one violation.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said over the last six months, no adverse trend was reported in the reliability reports of Air India in terms of crashes.

However, over the last six months, nine show-cause notices have been issued to Air India in connection with five identified safety violations.

"Enforcement action has been completed in respect of one violation," the minister said in response to queries from CPM member John Brittas, but did not reveal specific details.

Air India's safety standards have come under scrutiny after the June 12 Boeing Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad, in which 260 people died and 81 were injured.

Of the 242 people on board the Ahmedabad to London plane, only one man had survived. The rest of the casualties took place on the ground as the aircraft crashed into a medical college hostel.

Soon after, civil aviation watchdog DGCA had ordered inspections on the Air India fleet of Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft.

"Of the total 33 aircraft, 31 operational aircraft have been inspected wherein minor findings were observed in 8 aircraft. These were released for operation post rectification. The remaining 2 aircraft are under scheduled maintenance," read a written reply from Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu in response to a question from BJP member Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan.

In another written reply in response to a query by DMK leader Kanimozhi, who had asked about the possibility of sabotage, Mohol said the authorities are looking into every angle to ascertain the cause of the Ahmedabad crash.