DGCA slaps Rs 10 lakh fine on Go First for Bangalore airport incident

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28: The aviation regulatory authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on GO First airline as they failed to ensure adequate arrangements for ground handling which led to 55 passengers being left behind at the tarmac.

This is with reference to an incident which occurred on January 9th in Bangalore when a Bangalore-Delhi flight (G8-116) took off leaving behind passengers who were on a passenger coach that was taking them to the aircraft.

“Accordingly, DGCA issued a Show Cause notice to the Accountable Manager of GO First to ascertain why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. GO First submitted their reply on January 25th and the same was examined,” said the DGCA.

After going through the response of the airline, the DGCA learnt that there was improper communication, and coordination between the terminal coordinator (TC), commercial staff and crew regarding boarding of all passengers in the aircraft.

“The airline failed to ensure adequate arrangements for ground handling, preparation of load and trim sheet, flight dispatch and passenger/cargo handling and therefore, enforcement action in the form of penalty of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed,” DGCA added.

-TNIE