The aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to low cost carrier- SpiceJet stating that the airline has failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services.
The DGCA has asked SpiceJet to explain why action should not be taken against them and has asked for a reply within three weeks.
“The reported incidents on aircraft operated by M/s Spicejet Ltd. from April 1, 2022 till date have been reviewed and it has been observed that at a number of occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing to the destination with degraded safety margins,’’ the notice read.
Sharing the notice on his official Twitter account, union minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia said passenger safety is paramount.
“Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated & course-corrected”, he added.
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The DGCA in its notice said that their review reveals that poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions (as most of the incidents are related to either component failure or system related failure) has resulted in degradation of the safety margins.
{{/usCountry}}The DGCA in its notice said that their review reveals that poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions (as most of the incidents are related to either component failure or system related failure) has resulted in degradation of the safety margins.
{{/usCountry}}The aviation regulator further stated that the financial assessment carried out by DGCA in September, 2021 has also revealed that the airline is operating on ‘Cash and Carry’ and suppliers/ approved vendors are not being paid on a regular basis leading to shortage of spares and frequent invoking of minimum equipment list (MEL).
A cash and carry status implies financial stress for the airline. The cash and carry format implies that the credit facility by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been withdrawn because SpiceJet could not clear dues and they have to pay every day to the AAI for airport user fees in order to continue operations.
“From the above it may be deduced that M/s Spicejet Ltd. has failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable air services under terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. Now, therefore, the Accountable Manager of M/s Spicejet Ltd., is hereby called upon to Show Cause within 3 weeks of receipt of this Notice as to why action should not be taken against the airline. In case no reply is received within the stipulated period, the matter will be proceeded ex-parte.,” DGCA’s notice concluded.
“We are an IATA-IOSA certified airline. SpiceJet successfully completed the meticulous audit program for recertification in October 2021. We have been regularly audited by DGCA. All our aircraft were audited a month ago by the regulator and found to be safe. All flights of SpiceJet are conducted in compliance with the applicable regulations of the DGCA Civil Aviation Regulations on the subject,” the SpiceJet spokesperson said.
It was learnt that 32 safety incidents of various airlines excluding SpiceJet, were reported to the regulator on Wednesday. One of these included a bird hit incident with an IndiGo flight in Kannur.
Reacting to this, a DGCA official said, “Most of them have no safety implications. On the contrary they are sine qua non of a robust safety management system.”
“On an average about 30 incidents take place daily, which includes go around, missed approaches, diversion, medical emergencies, weather, technical, bird hits et al,” the official added.
On Tuesday too, when SpiceJet had three mid-air issues in their aircraft, smoke was detected in the cabin of a Raipur-Indore IndiGo flight after landing. Moreover, a Vistara flight too had a similar issue.
After landing on runway 10 at Delhi and after it vacated the runway, its engine # 2 was shut down for single engine taxiing. However, during this time, at the end of taxiway ‘K’, Engine # 1 failed due to which a tow truck had to be called to tow the aircraft to the parking bay. ATC was informed and a tow truck was requested.
“After landing in Delhi on Tuesday, while taxiing to the parking bay, Vistara flight UK122 that took off from Bangkok had a minor electrical malfunction. Keeping passenger safety and comfort in mind the crew elected to tow the aircraft to the bay,” its spokesperson concluded.