Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to Spicejet amid multiple instances of its planes suffering technical glitches in recent weeks.
DGCA in its notice said, "the reported incidents of aircraft operated by M/s Spicejet Ltd. from 1st April, 2022 till date has been reviewed and it has been observed that at number of occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued with degraded safety margins. The review transpires that poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions has resulted in degradation of the safety margins,”
DGCA noted that as per its financial assessment the company is operating out cash and carry and its suppliers and vendors are not being paid on regular basis leading to shortage of spares and frequent invoking of Minimum Equipment List (MELs).
DGCA said that Spicejet has failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air service.
"The Accountable Manager of M/s Spicejet Ltd is hereby called upon to Show Cause within 3 weeks of receipt of this Notice as to why action should not be taken against the airline," DGCA notice said.
SpiceJet's Delhi-Dubai flight suffered a mid-air malfunction in its fuel indicator on Tuesday and was diverted to Karachi and cracks developed on the windshield of another plane of the budget carrier at a height of 23,000 feet forcing a priority landing in Mumbai in a double whammy for the airline.
The two episodes on a single day have taken the total number of technical malfunction incidents involving SpiceJet aircraft to seven in the last over a fortnight.
