SpiceJet gets safety notice: List of 9 incidents in 2 months

CHENNAI: SpiceJet’s torrid time continues as the cash-starved airline was caught in three incidents on Tuesday itself. Reportedly, the airline company’s name was involved in nine such incidents in the past two months.

A SpiceJet plane, which took off from Delhi and was heading to Dubai, had to make an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, after it developed a technical fault.

In another incident involving SpiceJet, a Q400 turboprop aircraft flying from Kandla in Gujarat, made a priority landing in Mumbai after its outer windshield developed a crack mid-air, the airline reported. Also yesterday, a SpiceJet cargo plane flying to China returned to Kolkata after its weather radar stopped working.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, has pointed out big gaps on how the airline is functioning, from operating flights with "degraded safety margins", issues that point at "poor internal safety oversight" to vendors not being paid on time, leading to shortage of spare parts for the SpiceJet fleet.

Recently, SpiceJet had removed its chief of flight safety Anushree Verma after being pulled up by the DGCA when 12 passengers were severely injured after an aircraft from Mumbai to Durgapur witnessed heavy turbulence. The aircraft, in violation of DGCA rules, was ferried to Kolkata without any examination for structural defect.

The government's notice said SpiceJet is operating its fleet on MEL, or Minimum Equipment List, which means the aircraft are considered safe to fly but not all systems are necessarily operational.

SpiceJet has been facing turbulence and incurred nine incidents in the past two months.

Let’s take a look:

• May 1: 12 passengers injured in Mumbai-Durgapur flight witnessing heavy turbulence

• May 4: Chennai-Durgapur aircraft turned back after one of its engines had to be shut down mid-air due to oil filter warning.

• May 30: DGCA hauls up SpiceJet for training pilots in faulty simulator

• June 18: Jabalpur-bound plane returned to Delhi after cabin pressure did not build up with the gain in altitude.

• June 19: Patna-Delhi aircraft made emergency landing after its engine caught fire due to a bird hit soon after take-off.

• July 2: Jabalpur-bound aircraft returned to Delhi after smoke was seen in cabin.

• July 5: Delhi-Dubai aircraft diverted to Karachi after fuel indicator started malfunctioning.

• July 5: Kandla-Mumbai flight landed at Mumbai airport after the aircraft's windshield cracked.

• July 5: Cargo plane to China turned back to Kolkata after weather radar failed.