Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a notice to SpiceJet for poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions resulting in degradation of the safety margins, minister of state for civil aviation VK Singh said in a written reply in the parliament on Monday. He said this was done taking cognisance of safety issues.
In response to Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi’s question, Singh said DGCA’s July 27 order last year restricted the number of SpiceJet’s departures to 50% of those approved under the summer scheduled 2022 for eight weeks. DGCA also extended the restriction on SpiceJet up to October 20 last year.
“On the basis of the review of [the] safety performance of M/s SpiceJet, the order imposing [a] cap of 50% of the number of scheduled departures of SpiceJet approved under the summer schedule 2022 was not extended beyond 29.10.2022,” he said
A series of air safety incidents from May 1 and July 6 last year promoted the restriction. At least nine SpiceJet flights reported such incidents as DGCA and the airline termed them.
The incidents ranged from cracked windscreens to malfunctioning instruments. Many of these forced planes to return to departure airports or to make an emergency landing.
DGCA also conducted an audit and 10 of the airline’s aircraft were grounded for repairs.