“It has been observed that on several occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing at the destination with degraded safety margins,” the DGCA said in the notice.
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) has issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet, asking the carrier to explain why action should not be taken against it for operating flights with “degraded safety margins”, and “poor internal safety oversight”.
“On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet Boeing 737 freighter was scheduled to operate from Kolkata to Chongqing. After take-off, the weather radar was not showing the weather. The PIC (pilot-in-command) decided to return to Kolkata. The aircraft landed safely at Kolkata,” SpiceJet spokesperson told PTI on Wednesday.
“It has been observed that on several occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing at the destination with degraded safety margins,” the DGCA said in the notice.
“The (DGCA) 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 safety margins,” the aviation regulator said.
“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 regularly, leading to a shortage of spares…” it said. “…It may be deduced that SpiceJet Ltd has failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services,” the DGCA said.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia also tweeted a copy of the DGCA notice. “Passenger safety is paramount. Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected,” he said.
There have been 8 such incidents in 18 days.
SpiceJet has been running into losses for the last three years. The carrier incurred a net loss of ₹ 316 crores, ₹ 934 crore,s and ₹ 998 crores in 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, respectively.
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