Our Bureau
New Delhi
Recently there were surprise inspections conducted by the aviation regulator of India. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has found out that there have been numerous safety and compliance violations by the Turkish Airlines. The recent inspections were conducted at some of the major airports of India out of nowhere without notifying the Turkish Airlines.
The safety violations have raised some serious concerns over the airline’s commitment to domestic and international aviation standards. The Civil Aviation Ministry stated that these inspections were done under international aviation guidelines. They majorly focused on the airline’s passenger and cargo flights to check whether they are complying to the Indian and global guidelines or not.
The Civil Aviation Ministry gave a statement on Wednesday that stated, “The cargo contained dangerous goods for which permission is required from DGCA for carriage of explosives to/from over India. This was not found to be attached, nor was it mentioned in the dangerous goods declaration.”
The inspections were done between May 29 and June 2 in major cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. One of the major lapses was found in Bangalore airport where a Marshaller was found to be untrained. He also lacked a valid ‘competency card’ that is required for the role.
The DGCA also found out that there were some hazardous elements found in the cargo of several aircrafts from Turkey. It was reported that there were explosives present in the cargos which were kept without taking proper permissions from the regulator.
The Ministry statement also stated that there were lapses found in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, where Turkish Airlines’ Ground Handling Agent (GHA) Globe Ground India, was operating without a formal service-level agreement. There was a lack of accountability and monitoring of essential ground equipment, including ladders, trolleys, and ground power units. Also, there was no official handover from the previous handler, Celebi, who was removed recently.
These new revelations will now push down the already tense relations between India and Turkey. The relations between both nations took a hit after the conflicts between India and Pakistan where the Turkish government supported Pakistan despite getting aid from India in their dire times.
