New Delhi: India’s aviation regulatory body Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to India’s low-cost carrier SpiceJet over failure to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services.
“Spicejet Ltd. has failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services under terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937,” DGCA said.
As per the recent incident with SpiceJet, two of its planes were forced to make a priority landing after a technical snag developed on Tuesday.
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- On Tuesday, SpiceJet’s Dubai-bound flight from New Delhi made an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan.
- In the last 17 days, there have been seven such incidents, including two new ones, on SpiceJet flights.
- “The reported incidents on aircraft operated by Spicejet Ltd. from April 1, 2022, till date have been reviewed and it has been observed that on a number of occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing to the destination with degraded safety margins,” DGCA’s show cause notice reads.
- Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday showed his concerns over recent incidents related to SpiceJet and said, “Passenger safety is paramount. Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected.”
- Whereas, the review transpires 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,” DGCA said.
- 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 regular basis leading to a shortage of spares and frequent invoking of minimum equipment list (MELS).”
- On the above-said incidents, aviation watchdog the DGCA has called Accountable top officials of Spicejet.
- “Hereby SpiceJet 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 said in the show cause letter.