SpiceJet says DGCA audited all its aircraft a month ago

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Thursday said all its aircraft were audited a month ago by aviation regulator DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation), which found them safe.

"SpiceJet successfully completed the meticulous audit program for recertification in October 2021. We have been regularly audited by DGCA. All our aircraft were audited a month ago by the regulator and found to be safe," the Ajay Singh-led airline tweeted.

This comes a day after DGCA issued a show cause notice to SpiceJet for alleged poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions on its commercial flights.

"SpiceJet is in receipt of the DGCA notice and will be responding within the specified time period. We are committed to ensuring a safe operation for our passengers and crew," the airline says in a statement.

All flights of SpiceJet are conducted in compliance with the applicable regulations of the DGCA's civil aviation regulations on the subject, the budget carrier adds.

The show cause notice, issued by DGCA on July 5, says that on numerous occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing to the destination with degraded safety margins.

As most of the incidents are related to either component failure or system related failure, such events have resulted in degradation of the safety margins, the show cause notice says.

Financial assessment carried out by DGCA in September, 2021 has also revealed that the airline's suppliers and vendors are not being paid on a regular basis leading to shortage of spares, the aviation watchdog says.

SpiceJet has "failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services under terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937," it further adds.

The airline has been asked to show cause within three weeks as to why action should not be taken against the airline.

On Tuesday, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 aircraft from Delhi to Dubai was forced to land in Karachi after developing a technical snag. The airline then sent a replacement aircraft to Karachi. "On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi - Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning. The aircraft landed safely in Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked. No emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing," the company spokesperson said.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, a SpiceJet Q400 aircraft flying from Kandla in Gujarat to Mumbai suffered a windshield crack.

Another SpiceJet Boeing 737 cargo plane, which was scheduled to fly from Kolkata to Chongqing, returned to Kolkata due to unserviceable weather radar.

Several such incidents have happened involving SpiceJet planes in the recent past.