An Air India pilots' body has urged the aviation regulator to look into the issue of deployment of "stressed" junior pilots in the cockpit, days after the Germanwings plane crash.
Stating that some 30-odd co-pilots were being "forced to work overtime" without any remuneration, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), in a letter to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today said, "Putting these highly-stressed and financially over-burdened co-pilots in the same cockpit... is a perfect recipe for disaster."
ICPA represents the pilots of the narrow-body Airbus A320. This is the second time in the last 10 days that the ICPA has red-flagged safety concerns in Air India to the DGCA.
The fresh communication to the regulator comes following the action of Andreas Lubitz, co-pilot of the Germanwings flight who last week crashed the Airbus A320 plane into the French Alps killing himself and 149 others.
The incident has triggered a debate over pilots' mental health in India as well.
"These co-pilots have being receiving an ad-hoc payment for more than 18 months which amounts to less than 1/3rd of their actual salary. They are being forced to work overtime without any remuneration and also are not allowed to take any kind of leave," said the letter.
Pointing out that a pilot's job is high-pressure and stressful, ICPA said that "several hundred people's lives are in jeopardy if a pilot commits a mistake".
"We hope DGCA will act on this serious flight safety issue with swift action to avert any tragedy," the letter added.
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