DGCA suspends Alchemist Aviation Pvt. Ltd approval to operate as flying training organization

Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) [India], August 29 (ANI): Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the approval granted to Alchemist Aviation Private Limited to operate as a flying training organization, according to an official press release from DGCA.

This comes in the wake of the crash of a trainee aircraft in which both persons on board i.e. trainee pilot and the instructor lost their lives.

Alchemist Aviation Private Limited was engaged in local flying at Jamshedpur Sonari Airport.

Following the incident, DGCA conducted a special safety audit of Alchemist Aviation Pvt. Ltd. from August 23 to 24 and during the audit several serious deficiencies and non-compliance with regulatory provisions were found.

The press release said, “On 20 Aug, 2024, a trainee aircraft of a flying training organization Alchemist Aviation Pvt. Ltd., engaged in local flying at Jamshedpur Sonari airport was involved in a fatal accident in which both persons on board i.e. trainee pilot and the instructor lost their lives. DGCA conducted a special safety audit of Alchemist Aviation Pvt. Ltd. from 23rd to 24th August 2024. During the audit several serious deficiencies and non-compliances of regulatory provisions were found.”

“Consequently, DGCA has suspended the approval granted to Alchemist Aviation Pvt. Ltd to operate as Flying Training Organization. The FTO will have to mandatorily undergo a de novo rectification process to ensure obligatory compliances,” it added.

On August 27, The Indian Navy recovered the wreckage of the Cessna 152 trainer aircraft from Chandil reservoir in Jharkhand’s Seraikela Kharsawan district.

The wreckage of the training aircraft that went missing on August 20 was recovered on Monday.

A 20-member diving and hydrographic survey team of Eastern Naval Command ran a 5-day long search and rescue operation to successfully recover the debris of the aircraft.

According to Seraikela Kharsawan district information and public relations department, bodies of trainee pilot Subhrodeep Dutta, and Captain Jeet Shatru Anand were recovered from Chandil dam after an extensive search operation by Indian Navi and NDRF on Thursday, August 22.

Earlier on August 20, it was reported that a training aircraft in Jamshedpur went missing after it took off from the Sonari airport.