'Will only tragedy wake them up?': MP slams DGCA, aviation ministry over SpiceJet issues
Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday sought to know why the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry were not taking action against airline operator SpiceJet for putting passengers' lives at risk repeatedly.
FollowRajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday sought to know why the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry were not taking action against airline operator SpiceJet for putting passengers' lives at risk repeatedly.
The Rajya Sabha member's Twitter post came in response to a media report about pilots of Spicejet aircraft headed for Ajmer being forced to abort take-off following engine troubles. A total of 76 passengers were on board the flight from Mumbai to Kishangarh in Ajmer.
Slamming SpiceJet, Chaturvedi accused the airline of playing with the safety of passengers and the crew.
She also targeted the DGCA and civil aviation ministry, asking them whether they would seek accountability only after a tragedy occurs.Â
Chaturvedi listed some of the instances in the last few weeks involving the airline. These included an incident on April 19 when passengers on board a Boeing 737 aircraft from Bengaluru to Guwahati brought to the notice shoddy cabin interiors and broken panels. The DGCA officials did an inspection and grounded the aircraft.Â
Spicejet had then confirmed the incident and carried out necessary repairs to the aircraft following which DGCA gave it clearance to resume operations.
The other case that the Shiv Sena MP pointed out was the May 1 incident when severe turbulence in SpiceJet's Mumbai-Durgapur flight left 17 people injured. Prima facie, the DGCA found that the Boeing B737 was operating on 'autopilot mode' when it faced turbulence.
This morning, reports emerged that SpiceJet flight SG-331 to the same destination -- Dungarpur -- had to return to Chennai on Tuesday night after the Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft faced a technical snag in one of its engines.
SpiceJet, the third-largest domestic airline in the country in terms of passenger market, operates 91 aircraft in its fleet. According to data available, the airline ferried 10.21 lakh passengers on its domestic flights in March.
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