DGCA did not find major safety violations in SpiceJet aircraft during spot checks, says Centre
At least nine incidents of technical malfunction on the airline’s planes have been reported in the last 30 days.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation did not find any major safety violations in SpiceJet aircraft during spot checks conducted earlier this month, the Centre told Parliament on Monday.
The statement came after at least nine incidents of technical malfunction on SpiceJet planes were reported in the last 30 days.
In a written reply, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh told the Rajya Sabha that the civil aviation regulator conducted spot checks on all SpiceJet’s aircraft between July 9 and July 13.
“A total of 53 spot checks were carried out on 48 aircraft which did not find any major significant finding or safety violation,” he said.
The minister said that as a safety measure, the authority directed SpiceJet to use 10 identified aircraft for its operations “only after confirming to DGCA that all reported defects/malfunctions are rectified”.
On July 6, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had issued a show cause notice to the airline seeking its explanation for the “degradation of its safety margins”.
Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that the civil aviation regulator’s notice had made a reference to a financial assessment of the airline carried out in September. The assessment showed that suppliers and approved vendors were not being paid on a regular basis, leading to a shortage of spare parts.
Malfunctions involving SpiceJet planes
On July 12, a Dubai-Madurai SpiceJet flight’s take-off was delayed after the nose wheel of the aircraft malfunctioned.
On July 6, a SpiceJet freighter aircraft bound for Chongqing in China returned to Kolkata after take-off. The pilots noticed that the weather radar of the plane was not working.
On July 5, a Delhi to Dubai SpiceJet flight had to make an emergency landing in Karachi after its fuel indicator malfunctioned. The flight had over 150 passengers on board. No one was injured.
Hours later, another SpiceJet plane flying from Kandla in Gujarat to Mumbai made a priority landing in the Maharashtra capital after the outer pane of the aircraft’s windshield cracked.
On July 2, a Delhi-Jabalpur SpiceJet flight returned to the national capital after crew members saw smoke in the cabin at a height of 5,000 feet. On June 19, an engine on a Patna-Delhi flight caught fire after a bird hit, causing it to return to Patna.
Fuselage door warnings lit up on two separate SpiceJet planes while taking off on June 24 and June 25, forcing them to return to their originating airports, according to PTI.