New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) presented data in the Lok Sabha that will surely raise concerns at the government and public level.
The number of significant technical defects reported by Indian scheduled airlines rose to a five-year high in 2025.
Union minister of state for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply to Shyamkumar Daulat Barve that 889 significant technical defects were reported during flight operations in 2025 — up 28%, from 692, in 2024.
The comparative figures were 487 in 2023, 528 in 2022 and 514 in 2021, as per data tabled by the minister.
Thankfully, the number of aircraft accidents remained minimal over the five-year period.
Indian scheduled airlines reported 4 accidents in 2021, 1 in 2022, zero in 2023 and 2024, and 1 in 2025, Mohol informed.
The data illustrates an increase in safety violations by airlines and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organisations, leading to action by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Safety violations rose from 1 in 2021 to 7 in 2022, 24 in 2023, 31 in 2024 and 42 in 2025.
“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,” the minister said in his reply.
“In case of any violation or non-compliance with the regulations detected during an audit/surveillance, enforcement action, including imposition of financial penalty, is taken by DGCA,” Mohol said.