Safety concerns rekindled for AI's A-320 fleet!

The first batch of Airbus A-320 started joining Indian-Airlines in 1989.

After one of the planes from A-320 fleet crashed in Bengaluru in 1990, the fleet was grounded following debates over "fly-by-wire" technology.

These planes were finally cleared to fly again for Air-India in December 1990.

Currently, Air-India has seven Airbus A-320 in its fleet which are more than 20 years old.

Air-India's first batch of Airbus A-320 (26-year-old) flight from Delhi to Vadodara flew back to Delhi on an emergency landing as it faced a wheel-snag.

The 1989 made aircraft's left-side main landing-gear got stuck.

The crew operating the A-320 fleet have been complaining about its low-functionality for a long time.

The reported problems were problematic weather-radar, non-functional auxiliary power and probability of hydraulic failure.

A 24-year-old German Airbus-320 crashed in the French Alps on a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

Almost all lives were lost in the plane-crash.

The age of the aircraft which crashed, raised safety concerns and arguments began about Air-India's A-320 fleet, some of which age upto 26 year old.

AI flies the oldest Airbus A-320's in the world and therefore were subjected to debates.

The Indian Commercial Pilot's-Association(ICPA) from Indian-Airlines and Air-India had raised several crucial questions complaining about the 26-year-old Airbus A-320's to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) Chief, M Sathiyavathi.

According to ICPA, the A-320's "are operated with repetitive snags endangering flight safety" and therefore, DGCA should not permit the operation of such "lethal snag-prone" aircrafts.

AI maintained that the aircrafts are certified and safe.

The Airbus A320 aircraft of Air-India (AI) which operated the flight AI-405 from Varanasi with 149 passengers onboard developed a hydraulic problem enroute.

Keeping with safety-rules, an emergency landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi) was followed by an evacuation program.

After the emergency-landing, one of the wheels had caught fire.

Amidst the panic and rush during the evacuation-program, 5-7 passengers sustained minor injuries.

After the incident of 7 September, the pilot-association's issues of safety for the old Airbus-320 fleet of Air-India have surfaced again.

This has triggered a debate regarding safety-concerns for passengers who have been complaining for a while.

Union Minister, Mahesh Sharma has refuted charges that Air-India was flying "faulty aircrafts" by ratifying that the incident did not take place due to "safety issues".

Aviation regulator, DGCA has yet denied any fault on the part of Air-India in continuing to fly old planes ratifying that they are air-worthy.

It has ordered a detailed investigation on the incident of 7 September.

Air-India's Chairman, MD Ashwani Lohani should immediately review maintenance and safety protocol of the Airbus A-320 fleet.

Lohani had already laid out some plans regarding the same, previously.

Lohani has asked engineering staff to ensure that atleast four more Airbus-320 family aircraft are made available by the end of this month so that old planes can be discarded.

He has tasked engineering subsidiary AIESL to draw a plan of spending $300 million raised through ECB's to be deployed in maintenance of AI's fleet.

He also wants a thorough plan for Nagpur's MRO-unit.