Days after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a showcause notice to SpiceJet over safety-related incidents, it grounded 10 of its aircraft after conducting over 50 spot checks, the government told Parliament.
The DGCA identified 10 of SpiceJet’s aircraft that could only be used after all reported defects and malfunctions were rectified, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V.K. Singh told Rajya Sabha on July 25.
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These aircraft were identified when the DGCA carried out 53 spot checks on SpiceJet’s 48 aircraft between July 9 and July 13. The regulator had served a show-cause notice on the airline on July 6, giving it three weeks to submit its response. The deadline ends on July 26, but neither the airline nor the DGCA clarified on whether the airline had submitted its reply.
The Minister in his response also said that the spot checks did not reveal “any major significant finding or safety violation.”
An airline spokesperson told The Hindu that all the 10 aircraft were now flying.
Last week, the DGCA also ordered a special audit of all commercial airlines in the country. This exercise is being carried out following a number of “engineering related incidents” across various airlines. The audit will examine availability of manpower as well as facilities and equipment, aircraft grounded due to non-availability of spares as well as the number of exemptions sought by airlines to continue to use aircraft despite bearing defective parts.
