Taiwanese pilot who used to work for a domestic Indian airline company talks about his shocking experiences there.
Among the craziest stories:
1) Certain air routes over India has no radar coverage. His co-pilot just reports their position based on a guess. There was no obligation to report position accurately.
2) On one airport that had no lights, a cow had gotten on the runway. The pilot was about to takeoff when he saw the cow with his aircraft lights. The airport didn't do anything to chase the cow away. So the pilot had to use a loud speaker to shoo the cow away.
3) A bird chaser jawan drove in a vehicle near his plane on the tarmac. His shotgun misfires into the roof of his vehicle just after hitting a bump. The shot had narrowly missed his plane.
4) The pilot reported a particularly hard landing, so that the plane gets inspected. His rookie co-pilot urges him not to report. He refuses, then a technician too urges him not to report. At last the company ignores his report
5) An engine pylon on a plane had suffered a visible crack about a meter long. The company covered the crack with tape. A jugaad fix. A foreigner passenger reported to the authorities and got the plane suspended. However the company's boss bribed the authorities and the plane was cleared to fly again. The crack remained, covered with tape.
It appears from this pilot's testimony that the Indian commercial airline industry is full of disregard for the rule of law, casualness, and jugaad.