Trouble brewing for SpiceJet? After pilot ban, turbulence highlights lapses in airline

India's aviation regulator DGCA recently announced to carry out an inspection of the entire SpiceJet aircraft fleet. A Boeing 737 plane operated by SpiceJet on Mumbai-Durgapur route ran into a severe turbulence leading to injuries to 17 people, two of whom were in ICU, DGCA said. It was also noted that the plane was on “autopilot” when the turbulence hit the aircraft.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) off rostered the flight crew, aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) and in-charge of SpiceJet's maintenance control centre, pending a probe.

SpiceJet has 91 aircraft in its fleet, according to its website and all of these are now under the scrutiny of India’s aviation watchdog. Not just this, last month DGCA barred 90 SpiceJet pilots for not taking mandatory simulator training to fly the controversial Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

The new-gen Boeing 737 - the Boeing 737 Max - faced two back-to-back crashes in 2018 and 2019 killing all onboard. The cause of the crash was ascertained as a faulty MCAS sensor that forced plane for a nosedive, resulting in a fatal crash.

For two years, all the Boeing 737 Max aircrafts were grounded across the globe and Boeing made necessary software changes to make the plane airworthy again. Then in 2021, DGCA allowed the Max series to fly in India, given that the pilots take additional simulator training before flying the jet.

SpiceJet is the only operator of Boeing 737 Max in India and DGCA, in a probe, found 90 pilots for completing the training. SpiceJet later said it would not impact the flying operations as they had ample pilots trained to fly this aircraft.

While this issue was ongoing between SpiceJet and DGCA, the turbulence incident has further raised eyebrows regarding safety standards followed by the airline.

SpiceJet said that all announcements were made and the seat belt signs were on. DGCA, on the other hand, says that the plane was in “autopilot mode” when the incident happened. Two of the injured passengers -- one with head injury and another with spinal injury -- are in intensive care unit (ICU) right now.

"The DGCA has off-rostered the involved crew, the AME...And in-charge of Maintenance Control Centre of SpiceJet pending investigation," said a statement. The plane took off from the Mumbai airport at approximately 5.13 PM on Sunday, it said.

"During descent, the aircraft experienced severe turbulence and the vertical load factor varied from +2.64G and -1.36G. During this period, the autopilot got disengaged for two minutes and the crew manually flew the aircraft," it mentioned.

The pilots reported to Durgapur ATC (air traffic controller) that a few passengers were injured due to turbulence and requested for medical assistance after landing. Due to severe turbulence, the oxygen panels opened up and oxygen masks dropped in the plane, it said.

"Damage has occurred to a few seat hand rest and overhead decorative panel. One cabin overhead bin (hatrack) lock was found broken," it mentioned. "The galley items were seen strewn across on the floor. Same was the condition in the aisle. The airline after inspection positioned the aircraft in Kolkata," it said.

The DGCA said it has instituted a multidisciplinary team to probe the severe turbulence incident.

DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI, "We have deputed a multidisciplinary team to carry out regulatory investigation (into this incident)."

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "The turbulence encountered by a flight while landing in Durgapur, and the damage caused to the passengers is unfortunate. The DGCA has deputed a team to investigate the incident."

"More details on the cause(s) will be shared once the investigation is completed," Scindia noted.

In March this year, SpiceJet was the third largest domestic airline in the country in terms of passenger market, according to DGCA data. SpiceJet carried 10.21 lakh passengers on its domestic flights in March. IndiGo -- India's largest carrier -- carried 58.61 lakh passengers in March, a 54.8 per cent share of the domestic market, the data mentioned.

With agencies inputs