Airline technical defects hit five-year high in 2025: Govt data
Technical Glitches in Indian Aviation Reach Five-Year Peak in 2025
Bharatmorningnews.com – Government statistics presented in the Lok Sabha reveal that Indian scheduled carriers experienced their highest count of major technical issues in five years during 2025. The civil aviation ministry submitted these figures on Thursday.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol provided a written response to parliament member Shyamkumar Daulat Barve, noting that flight operations recorded 889 significant technical defects throughout 2025. This represents a substantial increase compared to the 692 incidents logged in 2024.
Historical Comparison of Defects and Accidents
Looking back further, the data shows 514 defects in 2021, 528 in 2022, and 487 in 2023. Despite the rising defect numbers, aircraft accidents stayed relatively low across this timeframe.
Mohol explained that carriers documented four accidents in 2021, followed by just one in 2022. Both 2023 and 2024 saw zero accidents, while 2025 recorded another single incident.
Surge in Regulatory Enforcement Actions
Another notable trend involves safety violations committed by airlines and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organizations. These infractions triggered enforcement measures from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulator.
The violation cases climbed steadily: one instance in 2021, seven in 2022, 24 in 2023, 31 in 2024, and 42 in 2025.
DGCA Oversight Framework
The minister highlighted that the DGCA has established Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), safety advisories, directives, and additional regulatory instructions to guarantee secure aircraft operations.
For monitoring compliance, DGCA has a systematic safety oversight mechanism encompassing all aircraft and airport operators. The safety oversight process includes regulatory audits, night surveillance, ramp inspections, spot checks and special audits. DGCA publishes the Annual Surveillance Plan (ASP) on its website. The findings of audits, surveillance and spot checks are followed up with the operator concerned for compliance.
According to the ministry, verification of operator compliance with any action taken occurs during subsequent audits or surveillance visits.
Mohol added that when violations or non-compliance with regulations are identified during these oversight activities, the DGCA implements enforcement actions, which may include financial penalties.
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