By Satnam Singh Atwal

RECENT reports by Federal Aviation Association (FAA) about poor mountainous practices by Eastern and Continental Airlines raise serious concerns about the safety of passengers travelling with these companies. However, these airlines officials have promised to fully cooperate and comply with FAA’s standards set for maintenance of their planes. This seems to have relieved anxiety of passengers to some extent.

 Government owned Air India has a long history of frequent accidents since it started operating in early fifties. Its officials have always blamed the reasons for accidents on one thing or another. However, nobody seems to pay any attention to what is happening in its maintenance department or the quality of training of its crew. When Air India’s jet liner crashed in Irish Sea Coast in June of 1985, World Sikh News raised serious concerns about Air India’s poor quality of maintenance resulting in loss of several hundred precious lives. Toronto based Canadian newspapers also questioned the several irresponsibility’s and irregularities on the part of its crew before the ill-fated plane took off from Canadian soil.

Again in 1986, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s plane specially serviced for him developed serious trouble while he was on foreign tour. He was heard saying, “Who will trust Air India if it’s planes specially serviced and arranged for Prime Minister of the country frequently develop serious trouble? We think, the reason for frequent failures in Air India’s operations are due to dishonesty, lack of sense of responsibility and lack of discipline among its higher-ups. Our observation becomes even more important in view of the recent report by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) which has squarely blamed Air India management for its reluctance to take action against those highly placed employees, who were found by the CBI to be involved in extraction of silver from scrapped air craft parts and stealing it at Bombay’s Santa Cruz Airport in 1982, CVC blames that not only Air India management failed to take stern disciplinary action, it tried it’s best to shield incriminated employees. “In spite of CBI’s serious concerns about gross misconduct, AI management acted quite reluctantly as a result of which Assistant Engineering Manager (AEM) and other employees involved in the case were acquitted in the court in 1985”, complains CVC. CVC even goes to the extent to say that AEM and others could have been charged with criminal proceedings as mentioned by CBI.

CVC blames that firstly, extracting silver in AI workshop was an unauthorized place and secondly the extracted silver was the property of AI. The AEM was responsible for keeping it at a specified place. Contrary to this AEM kept silver in his personal possession from where it was shown to have been lost afterwards. And lastly, AEM failed even to report the lost property to the proper authorities.

If AI wants to improve its image and instill new confidence among its customers then, it should punish erring officials in order to prevent such gross misconduct in the future. It’s time now, to act rather than blame on others for its own misdoings. Otherwise people will continue to ask, “Is Air India safe to fly”?

North Indian Heat wave Kills 32 People ‘EW DELHI, May 16, Reuter: At least 32 people have died of heatstroke in a heat wave sweeping north India this month, the Press Trust of India reported on Monday.

Temperatures soared in New Delhi and the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, the hottest spot at 47 degrees centigrade on Monday.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 20, 1988