DGCA asks airlines for inspection of plane door seals to avoid mid-air pressurization snags

New Delhi, Jun 10: The aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday asked airlines to do meticulous inspection of door seals of their planes as per the procedures set up by aircraft manufacturers to avoid mid-air pressurization snags.

The regulator said there have been few cases where an aircraft observed mid-air pressurization snags on consecutive flights and only then the airline identified the problem as "seal failure" and rectified it.

Aircraft have sophisticated air control systems to ensure sufficient oxygen flow and pressure inside it. If there is a decompression due to seal failure, passengers and crew members could suffer from hypoxia, which may turn fatal.

"Number of incidents occur every year involving aircraft failure to pressurise after take-off or cabin pressurization failure during flight. At time such failures had serious consequences," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

These incidents were due to several reasons, including faulty or damaged door and window seals, cracked windows or improperly closed doors and improper operational procedure, it noted.

"The maintenance programme prescribes procedure for the inspection of door seal condition. However, the investigations have revealed that in few cases pressurization snag occurred in number of sectors operated by the aircraft before they were finally identified as seal failure and rectified," the DGCA stated.

"To avoid recurrence of such incidents and improve the operational safety, all the airlines are required to ensure meticulous adherence of the inspection procedures prescribed by the manufacturer," it added.