Vistara gets DGCA notice for pilot training rules violation
Vistara pilots is on hold after the civil aviation regulator asked the airline to explain alleged violation of rules.
The pilots were slated to operate Boeing 787 aircraft, which the airline uses on European routes.
People familiar with the matter said the pilots, earlier operating the Airbus A320 aircraft, were doing their conversion training for the Boeing 787 planes.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is learnt to have raised questions over a procedure called Zero Flight Time Training (ZFTT). When a pilot has to undergo conversion training for operating a different type of aircraft, he has to undergo multiple stages of training.
A Vistara spokesperson confirmed it has received a show-cause notice from the regulator.
«We are in receipt of a show-cause notice from DGCA and are in discussions with the regulator on this subject,» she said.
As part of that, following a skill test, which is a demonstration of the skills taught during the training course on a new aircraft type in a simulator, pilots need to complete aircraft landing training in an actual plane.
However, experienced pilots with more than 500 hours of flying are eligible to conduct this training in a simulator.
Under DGCA rules, the training has to be done within 45 days after completing the skill test. An audit by DGCA found that multiple Vistara pilots hadn't done the training within the timeline but they have been scheduled to do the next stage of the course, which is a Supervised Line Flying (SLF) where the pilot operates an
