The government has suspended several Air India (AI) officials, including the security heads of the Mumbai and Hyderabad airports, after the discovery of a diffused stun grenade on Saturday morning onboard an AI Boeing 747-400 aircraft that was just recently used as in Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s US visit.
Union civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju has also decided to holding a security review next week with the senior ministry officers and heads of all connected organisations like AI and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to ensure that such lapses do not occur in any airline in the future.
The development comes as a major embarrassment for India?s aviation authorities at a time when the US Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded the country?s air safety rating to Category 2 because of a lack of effective oversight capabilities of the domestic aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
?This was the aircraft?s first commercial flight after doing VVIP duty recently involving VVIP travel from USA. Early morning the AI Joint MD Nasir Ali and BB Dash, Joint Commissioner BCAS, was asked to go to Mumbai to carry out the enquiry and ensure action against those responsible for the lapse. AI Manager Security A J JOSHEPH at Hyderabad and Manager Security J G Vincent at Mumbai both have been suspended. Orders were also issued for suspension of ground handling officers as well as security supervisors who took over the plane from the security agencies,? a civil aviation ministry official told FE.
At the time of the discovery of the diffused anti-riot stun grenade, the aircraft was flying as AI 965 on the Delhi-Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah route, piloted by Commander N K Beri and First Officer Vikram Singh. The grenade was discovered in Jeddah, where local authorities sanitised the plane before allowing it to fly back home.
Incidentally, AI officials tried to douse the fire by saying it was only a cover of a bomb, though civil aviation ministry officials confirmed that there was indeed a bomb inside, though diffused.
“The bomb was found on the upper deck first class cabin and the matter was immediately reported to the authorities. This bring to light the startling security and administrative lapses within Air India for which the CMD and operations head need to be taken to task,” a source close to the development said.
AI, which has a total fleet of 108 aircraft, maintains five Boeing 747-400s that are used for VVIP transport like for the PM or President on state visits. When needed two planes are pulled out of active service and re-configured. The call sign is AI 001, and the aircraft is then piloted by a designated team from the Indian Air Force.