DGCA begins special audit of charter companies

Wreckage of the crashed plane Learjet 45 near Baramati Airport in Pune. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is carrying out a special audit of non-scheduled operators to assess operational and safety aspects.

The audit, which was ordered following the January 28 Baramati air crash, will be conducted in two phases and will cover both aircraft and helicopter operators.

In the first phase, which began on Monday, the audit will cover 14 operators including charter companies and corporates. Three member teams, comprising an official each from air safety, airworthiness and flight operations sections, and have been asked to submit inspection reports within 10 days of audit completion.

An audit of VSR Aviation whose Learjet 45 crashed in Baramati is also underway.

Additionally, the regulator is also in the process of preparing guidelines for uncontrolled airfields that currently don’t fall under its purview. Such airfields, like the one in Baramati, lack regular air traffic control or weather monitoring aids. “Uncontrolled airfields are owned by different entities and are not licenced and audited by DGCA. However, the DGCA is preparing guidelines for operations at such airfields,” an official said.

Charter operations under regulatory lens

Six persons, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, died in the Baramati air crash on January 28. The accident, which is being probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, has put the spotlight on charter operations in the country.

Industry sources point out that some of the operators have questionable maintenance practices and that they understate the number of hours flown to avoid revenue loss. Adherence to flight duty norms is said to be another area of concern.

“Aircraft maintenance cycles are based on the number of flight cycles or hours logged and the understating helps a company to keep the aircraft flying beyond manufacturer-stipulated maintenance timelines,” an industry source said.

Published on February 9, 2026