SpiceJet plane makes emergency landing in Hyderabad
A SpiceJet flight made an emergency landing at Hyderabad airport on Wednesday night. The decision was taken after smoke was noticed in the cabin and cockpit. The pilot alerted the Air Traffic Controller (ATC). After this the ground staff was alerted and made a safe landing.
DGCA said that SpiceJet’s Q400 aircraft was coming from Goa to Hyderabad. There were 86 passengers on board the plane. After a safe landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, passengers were deboarded from the emergency gate. During this, a passenger got a scratch on his leg. An inquiry has been ordered in this matter. Nine flights were diverted at Hyderabad airport at around 11 pm on Wednesday due to the emergency landing. These included domestic flights, international and cargo flights.
A passenger has also shared some pictures during the landing. It is written in the caption – Smoke started filling in the flight from Nagpur. For 20 minutes all the passengers were scared. Fortunately, we landed alive and safe, but who would be responsible if something happened.
It took 20 minutes from there and we all the passengers suffered and blacked out with fear. Luckily we landed alive and safely… But what if something happens and who would be responsible, this happened clearly due to the neglence of the crew and respective department. pic.twitter.com/gwvltHNlHR
— Srikanth Mulupala (@SrikanthMulupal) October 13, 2022
50% of SpiceJet flights closed till October 29
On July 27 this year, the Director General of Civil Aviation ordered SpiceJet to operate only 50% of its fleet of flights for the next eight weeks after several SpiceJet planes crashed in flight. Since then the airline has been struggling financially. Even before the expiry of these eight weeks, the DGCA issued a new order last month, extending the ban till October 29.
The airline is going through a financial crisis
The airline also reported that the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft survived the crash twice due to a technical fault. Due to this the aircraft had to be grounded between March 2019 and November 2020. The airline has been making losses for the last 4 years. SpiceJet has incurred a net loss of Rs 316 crore, Rs 934 crore, Rs 998 crore and Rs 1,725 crore in FY19, FY20, FY21 and FY22 respectively.
SpiceJet sends 80 pilots on leave without pay
Earlier, SpiceJet has sent some pilots from its staff on leave without pay for 3 months. The airline issued a statement giving information about this. Although the airline did not specify the number of pilots, the number of pilots quoted by media reports is around 80. These pilots belong to the Boeing and Q400 fleet.
784 crore loss in June quarter
SpiceJet reported a loss of Rs 784 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared to a loss of Rs 731 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company had a loss of 485 crores in the quarter ended March. Moreover, it is currently operating less than 50 per cent of the flights, while the airline has 90 aircraft in its fleet. About 50 aircraft are currently being operated.
