By Abhijith Ganapavaram

NEW DELHI, June 24 (Reuters) - India's aviation

regulator said on Tuesday it had found multiple instances of

aircraft defects reappearing "many times" at Mumbai and Delhi

airports, two of the country's busiest, indicating what it said

were inadequate checks on jetliners.

The findings were part of a special audit being carried

out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to

strengthen safety in the wake of a

deadly Air India crash

that killed 271 people earlier this month.

The regulator did not name the airlines where the

defects were found or detail the type of defects. The two

airports in the world's third largest aviation market serve

major Indian airlines such as IndiGo, Air India and Air India

Express, as well as many international carriers.

The repeated instances of defects indicated "ineffective

monitoring and inadequate rectification action", the DGCA said.

The government body also found other violations such as

an aircraft maintenance engineer not taking prescribed safety

precautions, not addressing defects in some places and work

order not being followed in jet maintenance.

At one airport that the DGCA did not name, the regulator

found no survey had been conducted despite new construction

around the vicinity, an issue now under scrutiny after the Air

India jet crashed into a doctors'

hostel

, killing dozens.

The findings have been communicated to the concerned

operators so they can take corrective measures within seven

days, the DGCA said.

The shortcomings were found as part of a "comprehensive

surveillance" during night and early morning hours at major

airports including those at Delhi and Mumbai.

After the June 12 crash, the regulator

ordered

renewed checks on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet but it said

these did not reveal any major safety concerns.

Reuters reported, citing sources, that the DGCA

cancelled

its planned visit to Air India headquarters on Tuesday for

an annual regulatory audit as the airline was tackling the

fallout from several Middle Eastern countries temporarily

closing their airspaces due to the

Israel-Iran conflict.