The government on Wednesday suspended an officer at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Anil Gill, following allegations of bribery, which included accepting three training aircraft from flying schools and then leasing them out for ₹90 lakh each annually.
“There is zero tolerance to malpractices. Any such issue will always be dealt with the strictest measures in accordance with the law,” Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a statement on the Government Order announcing Mr. Gill’s suspension.
The officer was in-charge of flight training at the DGCA, and was transferred to a different department following a complaint from an anonymous whistleblower.
The whistleblower, in his complaint, a copy of which was accessed by The Hindu, painstakingly detailed how Mr. Gill allegedly blackmailed flying training organisations with strict penalties following inspections and accidents, and demanded bribes to look the other way. These bribes allegedly also included three training aircraft from different schools, which were then further leased to various schools for an annual rent of ₹90 lakh each. The schools that leased aircraft from the officer were then allowed to engage in malpractices, including fudging flying training time.
The complaint to the DGCA was sent on October 25, which was within days of the Red Bird Flight Training Academy being barred from conducting training for aspiring pilots after two air crashes raised concerns over poor aircraft maintenance. The Red Bird Flight Training Academy was among the schools that leased aircraft from Mr. Gill.
On Wednesday, the DGCA also said that the Red Bird Flying Training Academy will now have to seek recertification for maintenance organisation as well as airworthiness as the audit of its five bases, including the main base in Baramati in Maharashtra, revealed failure to ensure aircraft maintenance for safe flight operations as well as deficiencies in personnel training, maintenance schedules and records, internal audit practices, tool and store management, and fuel storage and handling.
