New Delhi: Serious technical defects during flight operations in 2025 were the highest in the last five years, rising by 73% compared to 2021, data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation shared with Parliament revealed.
India recorded 889 serious aircraft technical defects during flight operations in 2025, which was around 30% higher than the 692 instances recorded in 2024. In the first six months of 2026, the data revealed, 352 defects have already been recorded.
With the exception of 2023, the number of operational defects registered by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has shown a rising trend since 2021.
The DGCA has also issued 382 show-cause notices to airlines for safety violations between January 2024 and June 2026, the ministry said.
Separately, the regulator initiated 51 enforcement actions against scheduled airlines between 2023 and 2025 for major violations of safety standards.
Year-wise data shows a sharp rise in technical defects:
2021: 514
2022: 528
2023: 487
2024: 692
2025: 889
2026 (January-June): 352
Additionally, enforcement action has also registered an uptick. The regulator took action in 42 cases involving safety violations by airlines and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) operators in 2025. This was up from 31 cases in 2024, 24 in 2023, seven in 2022 and one in 2021.
However, the ministry did not provide an airline-wise break-up of the data.
In his response, MoS Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said, “For monitoring compliance, DGCA has a systematic safety oversight mechanism encompassing all aircraft and airport operators.”
These findings come shortly before the scheduled safety audit of the DGCA by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in November.
A poor assessment or downgrade from Category 1 status could restrict Indian carriers from expanding or launching new flight services to the United States
