As many as 40 student pilots of Odisha’s Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) stare at an uncertain future as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has withdrawn its approval for Pipistrel SW121 aircraft for the purpose of training commercial pilots.
This comes 18 months after the aviation safety regulator gave the green light to the trainer aircraft. A DGCA official, later suspended over corruption charges, had also been flown to Slovenia to conduct test flights.
Three students, who paid upto ₹40 lakh, and GATI, have now moved the Delhi High Court against the regulator’s “arbitrary and illegal” notification on February 26. The notification revised the aircraft’s categorisation, which effectively prohibits its use to train commercial pilots. The DGCA also refused to grant a commercial pilot’s license to the first three students who completed their training on the Pipistrel aircraft.
Muddy waters
The petitioners are demanding clarity on what the new classification will mean for those students who have already completed their training on the Pipisteral aircraft and those who are currently training on it.
On February 26, an official of the Directorate of Flying Training of the DGCA informed GATI that its committee of experts had concluded that the Pipistrel SW121 aircraft was a Light Sport Aeroplane (LSA). Such a classification makes the aircraft unsuitable for training commercial pilots, i.e. pilots who fly for airlines. The DGCA, however, had earlier categorised it as a “normal” aircraft. It had also granted a “Certificate of Airworthiness” for the two Pipistrel aircraft purchased by GATI in August and October 2022. Such a certification is a valid criterion for recognition of flying experience of a student pilot. On the other hand, an LSA is only granted a “Special Certificate of Airworthiness”, says the petition.
While there are questions being raised in the industry over how a 600-kg aircraft was allowed for CPL training in the first place, the DGCA’s u-turn has befuddled many. The DGCA defines a Ligh Sport Aircraft (LSA) as a fixed wing aircraft with maximum certificated take off mass exceeding 450 Kgs but not exceeding 600 Kgs “and” stalling speed not exceeding 45 knots.
Industry sources say that the former head of Directorate of Flying and Training, Anil Gill, who is now suspended, also carried out seven hours of flying in Slovenia to approve the aircraft for the purpose of CPL training. They also ask why the regulator granted the flying school a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for import of the training aircraft knowing fully well that most of the training is carried out for aspiring commercial pilots, and only limited training is for private pilot’s license sought by hobbyists.
Sleeping at the stick
“Why was the DGCA sleeping until now. Every flying school logs in daily hours of flying for each trainee on a specific kind of aircraft. How then could CPL training on a Pipistrel aircraft escape their attention for so long. What about audits and surveillance carried out by the DGCA,” asked another owner of a flying school.
The court case comes while tge DGCA is embroiled in a high-profile corruption case, with its former head for directorate of flying training (DFT), Anil Gill, being suspended in November 2023 following bribery allegations. He was accused of accepting three training aircraft as bribes from flying schools and then leasing them out for ₹90 lakh each annually in exchange for favourable decisions. The allegations were made by a whistleblower following as many as five crashes at Red Bird Flying Training Academy, which had also allegedly taken aircraft on rent from Gill.
The flying school was established in 1974 by the government of Odisha. In 2007, the State government chose Global Avianautics Limited (GAL) to manage and develop GATI as a public, private partnership. The new management decided to induct two new Pipisteral aircraft, adding to its existing fleet of 2 Cessna aircraft- a Cessna 152 and Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The school has its flying training base at Birasal in Odisha.
