Indian airline, SpiceJet to face legal action after India’s aviation authority questioned the budget airline to explain why it had reported more than half a dozen air safety incidents in the past two months. The Indian airline reported two individual incidents on Tuesday, with one Dubai-bound airplane making an emergency landing in Karachi after a malfunctioning cockpit light.
Indian airline SpiceJet Experienced Similar Emergency Landing Cases in Past Two Months
Moreover, another incident involved a SpiceJet aircraft making a forced priority landing in Mumbai on the same day after its outer windshield developed a crack. And a week earlier, another flight made an emergency landing in New Delhi when a SpiceJet plane’s cabin filled with smoke soon after take-off. The Indian airline stated that passengers in all three incidents were safely disembarked from the plane.
According to the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), SpiceJet, which holds nearly 10 percent of India’s domestic market and has “failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable” service. The director gave the Indian airline three weeks to show cause as to why it should not face legal action, which under Indian regulations could include fines or the grounding of aircraft. The regulator said SpiceJet had also failed to pay vendors and suppliers on time, which had led to shortages of spare parts at the airline.
The Airline Will be Responding to the DGCA Notice Within Specified Time Period
“SpiceJet is in receipt of the DGCA notice and will be responding within the specified time period,” a spokesperson for the company told AFP on Wednesday. “All our aircraft were audited a month ago by the regulator and found to be safe,” he added. SpiceJet has reported at least eight operational incidents since May. Hundreds of passengers were stranded in planes for hours that month after an “attempted ransomware attack” forced the delay and cancellation of flights.
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