Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended two senior executives of AirAsia India for a period of three months over “safety violations”, said a senior official on Tuesday. The suspension was carried out a week ago, the official said.

Captain Gaurav Taneja, a popular Youtuber and former AirAsia pilot had tweeted on June 14 that he has been suspended by AirAsia India “for standing up for safe operations of an aircraft and its passengers”. He later made a

YouTube video titled “Reasons behind suspension from my pilot job” and explained how airline was saving fuel by putting passengers lives at risk.Taneja alleged in the video that the airline has asked its pilots to do 98 per cent of landings in “Flap 3” mode, which allows it to save fuel. He said if a pilot does not do 98 per cent of landings in “Flap 3” mode, the airline considers it a violation of its standard operating procedure (SOP).livemint 

Capt Manish Uppal and Mukesh Neema from @AirAsiaIndian are suspended by @DGCAIndia for safety violations and risking people lives for profits.
All the “safety experts” who were acting as PR agents of @AirAsiaIndian , you are caught with your pants down. #AirAsiaIsUnsafe

— Gaurav Taneja (@flyingbeast320) August 10, 2020

Taneja gave the example of the Imphal airport, where the plane descends more steeply as compared to other airports when approaching for landing. He said when an aircraft is coming down steeply, it needs to have a drag so that it remains slow, and in these circumstances a pilot has to do a “Flap full” landing.

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“In order to achieve targets, what would people do? They will do Flap 3 landings without giving consideration whether it is safe or unsafe. This directly impacts the passenger safety,” he had claimed in his YouTube video.

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“If something happens during a Flap 3 landing, then the question would be asked to the pilot if he or she cares more about saving fuel or 180 passengers” lives, Taneja had said.

Senior DGCA officials had confirmed on June 15 itself that AirAsia India was under investigation after Taneja’s allegations

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