LONDON – Indian Low-cost Carrier SpiceJet has been a lot in the news lately for all the wrong reasons.
In the last 18 days, SpiceJet’s aircraft reported glitches forcing the Indian Aviation regulator DGCA to issue a “Show Cause” notice to the airline. Yesterday (i.e. 05/07/2022) two SpiceJet aircraft reported glitches in two separate incidents.
A SpiceJet aircraft traveling from Delhi to Dubai had to divert to Karachi International Airport in Pakistan due to a technical glitch absorbed by the pilot on board and it was decided best to land at the nearest airport.
The pilots observed unusual fuel quantity reduction from the left tank upon noticing this the pilots carried out all the non-relevant checklist prescribed for such a situation but when they noticed that the fuel quantity kept decreasing the pilots decided it is in their best interest to divert and land at the nearest airport which was Karachi International Airport. SG 11 was a scheduled flight operating between DEL-DXB, it was operated by a Boeing 737 Max 8.
The flight took off from Delhi International airport at 8:04 am (IST) and after finding the fault in its fuel tank the aircraft landed at Karachi International Airport at 9:17 am (PKT).
SpiceJet sent a replacement aircraft for the stranded passengers which ferried the passengers to their destination. SpiceJet issued a statement following the incident which said:
“On 5th July 2022 SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating SG 11 Delhi to Dubai was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning the aircraft landed safely at Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked no emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing there was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft passengers were served refreshments and a replacement aircraft was sent from Mumbai to carry the passengers from Karachi to Dubai“.
After this incident, DGCA immediately announced that it will be opening an investigation into this incident.
On the same day, the Q400 belonging to SpiceJet was operating a scheduled flight between Kandla – Mumbai and had to make a priority landing at Mumbai International airport as its P2 side windshield outer pane had cracked.
The aircraft was at 23,000 feet above main sea level when the incident occurred, the pilots immediately informed the Mumbai ATC which in turn gave priority landing to the aircraft.
All the passengers and crew landed safely at Mumbai International Airport, and an investigation has been initiated by DGCA into this incident as well.
“On 5th of July 2022 SpiceJet Q400 aircraft was operating SG 3324 from Kandla – Mumbai during its cruise altitude FL 230, P2 side windshield outer pane cracked pressurization was observed to be normal the aircraft landed safely in Mumbai International Airport,” SpiceJet said in a statement.
SpiceJet has been reporting a lot of technical glitches in the last few days and this has pushed DGCA to issue a “Show Cause” notice to the airline.
The notice highlights “SpiceJet has failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services under Aircraft Rules, 1937″.
The reports of these investigations will shed light on the actual cause of all these incidents.
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