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Scindia conducts high-level meet on safety of air passengers
The Indian aviation industry has recently seen several mid-air and on- ground incidents involving Indian airlines.
New Delhi: Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asked the country’s sector regulator and ministry officials on Sunday to strengthen the oversight mechanism on airlines, holding a high-level meeting close on the heels of a spree of air safety-related incidents.
The meeting came on a day when reports emerged of two more flights by Indian carriers needing to be diverted to a third country over suspected technical snags, and a little over a week after the Director General of Civil Aviation pulled up budget carrier SpiceJet, which recorded a particularly high number of instances of late.
“In continuation of the on-going regular review of flight occurrences, a detailed two-hour long meeting was chaired by the minister with senior officials from MoCA (ministry of civil aviation) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” a ministry official said.
“He (Scindia) re-emphasised to strictly adhere to the prescribed safety norms and avoid any kind of laxity towards passenger safety,” the ministry said separately in a tweet.
On Sunday, it emerged that an IndiGo airlines flight from Sharjah to Hyderabad had to be diverted to Karachi the previous day for a precautionary landing.
Also Read: IndiGo Sharjah-Hyderabad flight diverted to Karachi, 2nd in two weeks
“The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution the aircraft was diverted to Karachi,” an IndiGo spokesperson said, adding that an additional flight was sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad.
This was the second time in two weeks that an Indian carrier’s flight was diverted to Pakistan – on July 5, a SpiceJet aircraft too landed at Karachi after problems were detected in its instruments.
An Air India Express flight from Calicut airport to Dubai too was diverted, landing in Muscat early on Sunday after the crew detected a burning smell from one of vents inside the cabin.
Also Read: AI Express Calicut-Dubai flight diverted to Muscat after burning smell in cabin
In both the recent cases, the passengers reached their destination airports later on Sunday.
Officials aware of Sunday’s high-level meeting said the minister stressed that there can be no compromise with regard to safety, reliability of airline operations and alignment with international safety standards.
“Directions were issued with regard to tightening and further improving safety oversight by the DGCA,” the official said, asking not to be named.
Indian aviation has recently seen several mid-air and on- ground incidents involving Indian airlines.
Much of the concern has been with the budget carrier SpiceJet, which was issued a warning notice by the DGCA earlier this month over why action should not be taken over a string of lapses.
The airline saw over six incidents from May 1 to July 5, including landing amid heavy turbulence that left many injured, instrument failures and, in one case, a cracked windscreen.
