New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered Spicejet to release ten of its aircraft for operations only after confirming rectification of “all reported defects/malfunctions”, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation General (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
The DGCA further issued an interim order to Spicejet on July 27, 2022, wherein for the continued sustenance of safe and reliable air transport service, the number of departures of Spicejet has been restricted to 50% of the number of departures approved under the summer schedule 2022 for a period of 8 weeks, the Minister said.
The Minister said that the DGCA ensured “timely corrective action” on deficiencies noted during oversight of certified operators and maintenance of records thereof and that the Government had sensitized the scheduled airlines to give utmost importance to air safety.
“There have been no lapses and hence no action is pending against officials,” the Minister claimed but said that the DGCA asked the Scheduled Airlines to increase their engineering-related capabilities at all base stations and transit stations. The DGCA further ordered special audits and spot checks and asked the Airlines to take appropriate mitigation action and greater internal surveillance to ensure the safety of air operations.
Spicejet experienced a series of occurrences during the operation of their aircraft fleet attributable to malfunction of components, bad weather, and bird strike. A special drive of spot checks were conducted from May 2, 2022, till June 6, 2022. During the period a total of 300 aircraft were inspected which included 62 operational aircraft of the Spicejet fleet.
The spot checks raised findings which were corrected by the Airlines, the Minister said. In another series of spot checks carried out on all operating aircraft of Spicejet from July 9, 2022, to July 13, 2022, 53 spot checks were carried out on 48 aircraft “which did not raise any significant finding or safety violations”.
As per the provisions contained in the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, air accidents are investigated by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and safety recommendations as per the investigation report are forwarded to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The appropriate action on implementation of recommendations made in the investigation reports is taken by DGCA to ensure the safety of air operations.
Photo courtesy Spicejet official website
– global bihari bureau
