India has warned Turkish Airlines to adhere to the safety rules and regulations after a surprise inspection at major airports in the country, and one of the inspections also found explosives on a flight without any prior declaration.
The Director General of Civil Aviation, i.e. the DGCA, conducted surprise and unannounced safety checks on Turkish Airlines’ passengers and safety checks from the 29th of May to the 2nd of June, at four major airports of the country, which were: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi. These Inspections were carried out under international aviation rules, which are mainly focused on the airline’s cargo and passenger flights to check their compliance with Indian and Global safety standards, according to a statement Ministry of Civil Aviation. These rules come under Article 16 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation Code (ICAO).
If we look at the Investigation, there were major lapses found at the Bengaluru airport. A marshaller – a ground staff that guides the airline was reportedly found untrained without a competency card. Another breach included serious breaches related to the technical front, where a technician was hired instead of a Certified Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, who usually handles the aircraft checks post-arrival. This directly goes against the aviation safety norms, even the company that is the safety provider for Turkish Airlines, named Airworks, wasn’t present at that time.
The Cargo check also revealed that Turkish Airlines was carrying dangerous goods, including explosives, without the required permission from the DGCA. The necessary documents were either incomplete or missing. At the Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports, there were also problems with the ground staff, there was no formal service agreement between the ground staff company, Ground Global, India and Turkish Airlines. Other pieces of equipment, such as trolleys, ladders, etc, had no proper record or accountability.
DGCA has ordered Turkish Airlines to make reforms with immediate effect and directed the airline to comply with ICAO and the DGCA norms. Well, this is not the first time the Airline has come into the limelight for the wrong reasons; it has been facing criticism post-Operation Sindoor after Turkiye came in support of Pakistan in defending terrorism.
