DGCA suspends pilot of AirAsia India flight for runway incursion at Mumbai airport

Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended the pilot-in-command of an AirAsia India flight for three months as he caused a runway incursion incident at Mumbai airport on November 5, a senior official said on Saturday. "The Air Traffic Control (ATC) gave clear instructions to the pilots of flight IAD374 - which was heading to Indore - to just stand at the holding point RWY32 at Mumbai airport. Even though, the co-pilot read back ATC instructions correctly to the PIC, the latter breached the holding point," the official of Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

The DGCA, therefore, issued show cause notices to both the pilots. In response, the pilot-in-command (PIC) admitted his lapses, the official said. "Consequently, the DGCA decided to suspend the PIC's license for a period of three months," he added.