Technical glitches in carriers: Scindia holds high level meet with Civil Aviation, DGCA officials

The Union Civil aviation minister took a detailed report from officials and told them to ensure passenger safety.

New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday held a high level meeting with the top officials of his ministry and aviation safety regulator DGCA over the recent spike in technical malfunction incidents involving Indian carriers. Taking cognisance of the incidents, Scindia took a detailed report from officials about these incidents over the last month and told them that there should be no compromise over passengers’ safety.

The meeting comes in the wake of several technical malfunction-related incidents involving Indian carriers. On Sunday, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precautionary measure after pilots observed a defect in one of the engines. On Saturday night, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air.

A day earlier an alive bird was found in the cockpit of the Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight. SpiceJet, which has witnessed at least eight malfunction incidents in its aircraft since June 19, is under regulatory scanner. The DGCA is currently investigating all the incidents that have been reported in SpiceJet aircraft. The aviation safety regulator has also sent a show-cause notice to the carrier on July 6.

A petition has also been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking to stop the flight operations of air carrier SpiceJet amid a string of technical malfunctions. The petition is to be heard by the Chief Justice of the Delhi bench on Monday. (Agency inputs)