SpiceJet’s plane became ‘danger’ 8 times in 18 days, show cause notice issued
Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet after eight incidents of technical snag in the last 18 days. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that SpiceJet has failed to “ensure safe, efficient and reliable air services” in terms of the 11th Schedule and Rule 134 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. “Review of the incidents reveals poor internal safety inspection and lack of adequate maintenance measures (as most incidents are related to parts or system failures) resulting in reduced safety,” the notice said. Is.”
The DGCA has given SpiceJet three weeks to respond to the notice. According to the notice, “The financial assessment done by the DGCA in September 2021 also revealed that the airline is not making payments to the approved vendors by the safety related suppliers on regular basis leading to shortage of spares and maintenance of aircraft. Responding to the DGCA notice, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the safety of passengers is of paramount importance. “Even the smallest error posing a security threat will be thoroughly investigated and rectified,” he tweeted.
8 events one after the other in 18 days
There have been at least eight incidents of technical snag in SpiceJet planes in the last 18 days. SpiceJet said one of its cargo planes returned to Kolkata on Tuesday due to non-functioning meteorological radar. The pilot of the plane bound for the Chinese city of Chongqing discovered that its meteorological radar was not working after take-off.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Delhi-Dubai flight of SpiceJet was diverted towards Karachi due to a fault in the fuel indicator. At the same time, his Kandla to Mumbai flight was landed on priority in the Maharashtra capital after the ‘windshield’ cracked during the flight. On the other hand, on July 2, the Jabalpur-bound SpiceJet plane returned to Delhi after seeing smoke in the cabin at an altitude of about 5,000 feet.
Similarly on 24 and 25 June, due to the activation of the ‘fuselage door warning’ system in different aircraft, the aircraft had to return. On June 19, while taking off from Patna to Delhi, the engine of an airliner had caught fire and had to make an emergency landing. The engine failure was caused by the bird colliding. At the same time, on June 19 itself, in another incident, an aircraft going from Delhi to Jabalpur had to return to Delhi due to the problem of pressure in the cabin. It is worth noting that SpiceJet has been making losses for the last three years. SpiceJet had a loss of Rs 316 crore, 934 crore and Rs 998 crore in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively.
SpiceJet gave this clarification
In the midst of all this, an explanation has been given by SpiceJet. A SpiceJet spokesperson said that the company is committed to the safety of its crew members and passengers. The spokesperson said that SpiceJet is an IATA-IOSA certified airline. The company is regularly audited by DGCA. About a month ago, all the aircraft were audited by the regulator and they were found to be completely safe.
