Planes Lack Recorders: Govt Concerns Safety

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) As many as 176 planes operated by non-scheduled and general aviation operators do not have flight data or cockpit voice recorders, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Under the norms, aircraft that have a take-off weight of less than 5,700 kilograms are required to mandatorily have CVRs only if they had received an airworthiness certificate on or after January 1, 2016.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that a total 2,263 aircraft were registered and issued certificates of airworthiness (C of A) before January 1, 2016.

"Aircraft operated by Non-Scheduled Operator's Permit (NSOP's) /General Aviation (GA) operators which are not equipped with Flight Data Recorder (FDR)/ Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) are 176," Mohol said.

His reply was to a query on whether the government has data on the number of aircrafts without cockpit voice and flight data recorders.

The nearly 40-year-old Beechcraft C90A aircraft that crashed in Jharkhand last month, killing seven people, did not have cockpit voice or flight data recorders.


The mandatory requirement for an aircraft to have cockpit voice and flight data recorders was not in place when the ill-fated aircraft was issued an airworthiness certificate back in 1987.

Meanwhile, the minister, in his written reply on Monday, also said that one plane each of Air India and Air India Express were caught in violation of airworthiness certificate requirements over the past five years.

"After investigation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took enforcement action, including imposing a financial penalty on the organisations, withdrawing the Form 04 approval of the post holder, and suspending the licence of the aircraft maintenance engineer for three months," he added.

Meanwhile, data shared by the minister in another written reply showed that as many as 1,244 technical snags were reported in various Indian airlines in the last three years.

In 2025, a total of 353 technical defects/ snags were reported in airlines while the count was at 421 in 2024 and 470 in 2023, as per data shared by the minister in the written reply.

According to the data, a total of 93 unruly passengers were placed in the 'No-Fly List' last year, higher than 82 in 2024. In 2023, the number of such passengers stood at 110.