In an unprecedented step taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), ten pilots will have to undergo mental alertness test after they used a much junior designation to address a senior officer in a letter.
Air India Chief slams DGCA's proposal of punishing sick pilots
The pilots of an airline service had sent a letter to oppose the proposed move of the aviation regulator, DGCA, to double the notice period of commanders to a year. The pilots, in the letterhead, addressed the joint director-general as the "joint director, DGCA", which is several notches below his position.
The joint DG was offended on being addressed by a lower designation and wrote back, saying, "This shows your absent state of mind and not fit condition for flying as the alertness required to perform cockpit tasks appears to be missing."
"With absent mind, cockpit checks performed in a casual manner may create hazardous situation leading to compromise with safety of aircraft operations," he added.
The official further asked the head of operations to check the "level of alertness" of the cockpit crew to determine if they are fit to fly.
The DGCA in its recent move has made one-year notice period mandatory for pilots who want to resign in order to curb hampering of flight schedules. Angry pilots have highly criticised the decision. "The DGCA is behaving like a typical bureaucracy and is trying to issue threats to pilots. Fixing of notice period should not be the job of the regulator. That should be between the pilots and the managements," said a senior pilot.
