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Mumbai: A year after the crash of Air India 171 in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people, a crucial cog in the country’s aviation safety – a crack unit meant to certify that aircraft in our skies are safe to fly – is even more short-staffed than it was before the accident. 

Data obtained by The Wire under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, show that of the total 310 posts in the Directorate of Airworthiness (DAW) a total of 136, or 44%, were lying vacant. This number is across levels. Last July, a month after the crash, an RTI query by The Wire had revealed that 133 posts were vacant. This has now increased to 136.

 The DAW is a unit that certifies aircraft to be fit to fly, conducts surprise checks on flights as well as its crew and even audits the facilities that maintain and repair aircraft. The unit, in some ways, forms the front-line auditor in-charge of ensuring air safety within the country. 

Yet, despite the vacancies, the Modi government had not made a single new hire in the DAW, nor created any new post in it, in the 11 months after the air crash, data obtained under RTI showed. The Wire has reached out to the Ministry of Civil Aviation through emails and WhatsApp messages to the Press Information Bureau in-charge of the ministry, Divyanshu Kumar. This report will be updated when we receive a response. 

Source: Responses obtained under the Right To Information Act, 2005 by this correspondent.

These vacancies fly in the face of assurances by the Modi government after the crash, of ensuring safer skies for Indians. Union minister for civil aviation Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu had promised that the government would “leave no stone unturned in uncovering the causes and ensuring long-term aviation safety reforms.”

One year since one of the worst crashes in Indian aviation history, both these promises remain unfulfilled. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is yet to submit its report on the crash and the DAW is even more hamstrung than before.  

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