The findings of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) following its special audit of aircraft maintenance practices at the country’s two busiest airports ~ Delhi and Mumbai ~ serve as a timely and troubling reminder of the cracks widening beneath the surface of the nation’s booming aviation sector. In the wake of this month’s Air India tragedy that claimed 271 liv es, the DGCA has unearthed what can only be described as systemic neglect.
Defects on aircraft were not just present ~ they were seen to reappear multiple times, pointing to incomplete repairs and a casual approach to airworthiness. The regulator stopped short of naming the airlines or detailing the specific faults, but the implication is unmistakable: India’s busiest air hubs are not doing enough to ensure that planes are safe when they leave the tarmac. That maintenance engineers skipped prescribed safety precautions and left work orders unful filled makes this audit outcome all the more alarming. Aircraft maintenance is not a field where corners can be cut or shortcuts taken. Each unchecked defect carries risk, and when these accumulate ~ as appears to have happened here ~ they can endanger not just equipment but human lives.
Equally unsettling is the discovery that in one case, airport authorities failed to conduct required surveys despite fresh construction near the airport. That lapse has chilling resonance in the shadow of the Air India crash, which saw a plane slam into a structure on the airport perimeter. Whether negligence, oversight, or complacency is to blame, such disregard for situational hazards amounts to an open invitation to disaster. This is not merely a technical matter for airlines or the DGCA to resolve behind closed doors. The rapid growth of India’s air travel market, now the world’s third-largest, has outpaced the safety culture that must underpin such expansion. While fleets expand and passenger loads surge, what seems to be lagging is the discipline, rigour, and accountability req – uired to maintain high safety standards.
The regulator’s seven-day deadline to operators for corrective measures is a necessary first step, but deeper institutional change is overdue. The maintenance ecosystem ~ from airline ma nagement to contracted repair units ~ needs urgent reform, including stronger internal audits, transparent reporting systems, and greater protection for whistleblo wers willing to flag unsafe practices. Without these, the sector risks slipping into a dangerous pattern where cosmetic fixes substitute for genuine solutions. Public confidence in Indian aviation is already fragile after the recent disaster. If passengers cannot trust that every aircraft they board is free of known defects, the consequences will reach far beyond regulatory warnings ~ they will touch the very viability of the industry itself. India’s aviation sector stands at a crossroads. It can either learn hard lessons now, embedding safety into its foundations ~ or wait for another tragedy to drive home the cost of ignoring them. And we have not even discussed liability under torts and criminal law.