PremiumListen to this article |
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday held a meeting with senior officials of his ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over a series of technical malfunction incidents involving Indian carriers that have been reported for the past few weeks.
Sources told news agency PTI that during the meeting, Jyotiraditya Scindia took a detailed report from the officials about these incidents over the past month. Scindia also told the officials that passengers' safety shouldn't be compromised.
“Safety is the paramount priority," an MoCA official quoted Jyotiraditya Scindiaas saying.
The meeting comes in the wake of several technical malfunction-related incidents involving Indian carriers.
On Sunday, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight made an emergency landing at Karachi airport after pilots observed a defect in one of the engines.
"The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi. An additional flight is being sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad," the DGCA said in a statement.
Last year, too, a Sharjah-Lucknow IndiGo flight made an emergency landing at the Karachi airport after a passenger fell ill mid-air and later expired.
On July 14, IndiGo's Delhi-Vadodara flight was diverted after vibrations were observed in the engines of the aircraft.
On Saturday, July 16, 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 a bird was found in the cockpit of the Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight.
The bird was discovered when it was at a height of 37,000 feet. The incident is being looked into by the DGCA.
'SPICEJET UNDER SCANNER'
SpiceJet, which has witnessed at least eight malfunction incidents in its aircraft since June 19, is under regulatory scanner. While the DGCA is currently investigating all the incidents that have been reported in SpiceJet aircraft, the regulator has also sent a show-cause notice to the carrier.
The aviation regulator had on July 6 said SpiceJet had "failed" to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services, and gave it three weeks to send a response to the notice.
(With PTI inputs)