A Nashik-bound SpiceJet flight returned to Delhi shortly after take-off on Thursday morning due to a malfunction in the autopilot system, the airlines said in a statement.
SpiceJet flight SG-8363 had taken off from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 6:54am but was diverted back to the national capital midway after the autopilot hit a snag, a DGCA official confirmed. The flight landed safely at Delhi, the official added.
“On September 1, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft scheduled to operate from Delhi to Nashik returned back to Delhi after flight crew experienced a malfunction with the AutoPilot system. The aircraft made a normal landing at Delhi and passengers were disembarked normally,” a SpiceJet spokesperson said.
The incident is the latest in a series of mid-air malfunctions that have plagued SpiceJet in recent months. Currently, SpiceJet is operating not more than 50 per cent of its flights as per the orders of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The regulator had in July imposed the curb on the airline’s flights for a period of eight weeks as its planes were involved in at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in the June 19-July 5 period.