Aviation regulator DGCA has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Vistara for letting an improperly trained pilot land an aircraft with passengers on board at the Indore airport, officials said on Thursday. The pilot, who was the first officer on the flight, landed the aircraft at the Indore airport recently without first getting the requisite training in a simulator, they said. "This was a serious violation endangering lives of the passengers on board," an officials noted.

A first officer has to be first trained to land an aircraft in a simulator before he or she can land a plane with passengers on board. A captain is also trained at a simulator before he or she can allow the first officer to land the aircraft.

The captain as well as the first officer of the Indore flight did not train in a simulator but the first officer was still allowed to conduct the landing at the airport, officials said. A fine of Rs 10 lakh has therefore been levied on Vistara for granting landing clearance to the first officer without conducting requisite training, they added. 

It is not immediately clear where the aircraft took off from and when exactly this happened.

The aviation regulator had also recently imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on IndiGo airlines for denying boarding to a child with disabilities at Ranchi airport on May 7. The airline had said that the boy was denied permission to board the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was “visibly in a panic”. As the boy was refused boarding, his parents who were accompanying him, also decided not to enter the plane.

“Special situations deserve extraordinary responses but the airline's staff failed to rise up to the occasion, and in the process, committed lapses in adherence to the letter and spirit of the Civil Aviation Requirements (regulations),” the DGCA noted. In view of this, the DGCA said it has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on IndiGo, under the provisions of the relevant Aircraft Rules.