Co-pilot forgets license, Oman Air flight banned from taking off
A Muscat-bound Oman air flight was not permitted to take off from New Delhi airport due to its co-pilot forgetting his flying license.
The co-pilot was not able to show his license during random inspections on paperwork of foreign aircraft and crews operating them, carried out by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials.
The Times of India quoted a source as saying, “During this random check, the co-pilot of Oman Air’s Delhi-Muscat flight could not produce his CPL when asked to do so. The aircraft, whose boarding had been completed, was stopped from taking off. The airline faxed the pilot’s license which was examined and then the plane took off with a two-hour delay,”
India began the “safety oversight of foreign airlines” (SOFA) program in 2009 in compliance with the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The DGCA repeated that all foreign airlines must send their aircrafts and crew members with complete paperwork in order to comply with routine safety checks. But this does not always come without consequence.
“About five to six years back in UPA time, we grounded foreign airlines’ aircraft a few times after finding some papers or certificates missing or due to some other reason. That immediately became a diplomatic issue with the country concerned and we were directed to immediately release those planes for flights,” a source told the newspaper.
Oman Air did not comment on the incident.
