New Delhi [India], June 25 (ANI): The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Saturday ordered to stop flying operations at two flying training schools due to serious safety concerns.

The suspended flight training schools are located in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively.

In one case, operations have been stopped till such time the runway is suitable for flying operations. During inspection, it was observed that it had loose gravel and uneven surface and was unsafe for flying.

In an another case, it was observed that three aircraft of a flying school had a dysfunctional fuel gauge indicator and they were being operated. "The flying operations at this school has been stopped for three weeks. It will be allowed to operate only when things are in order," the order stated.

On June 16, the DGCA ordered action over FTOs for violation of various safety guidelines.

DGCA had ordered special safety audits for all Flying Training Organizations (FTOs) in India to assess safety standards and systemic deficiencies in operations, maintenance and training.

In the statement, the DGCA mentioned that the audit commenced on March 21, 2022. At the time of the audit, there were 32 functional FTOs. Till date, an audit of 30 FTOs has been completed.

The audits have brought out safety deficiencies that include non Compliance of DGCA requirements for conduct of Breath-Analyzer (BA) examination i.e, few of the instructors, student pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers did not undergo BA test or submit undertaking prior to commencement of duty/exercise of privileges.

In a few cases, the equipment being used was not in compliance with the requirements or calibrated as required. (ANI)