7 Emergency Landings In 17 Days: Spicejet Flights' Frequent Malfunctioning Big Reason To Worry

A SpiceJet flight landed safely in Mumbai with its outer windshield of the cockpit cracked, while another flight heading towards Dubai from the national capital was diverted towards Karachi, Pakistan.

(Representative Image/ PTI)

Low-budget air carrier Spicejet had to make emergency landings of two of its aircraft on Tuesday after they developed technical glitches. Taking today's accident into consideration, a total of seven Spicejet aircraft made priority landings in the last 17 days. A SpiceJet flight landed safely in Mumbai with its outer windshield of the cockpit cracked, while another flight heading towards Dubai from the national capital was diverted towards Karachi, Pakistan, on Tuesday due to some technical malfunctioning in the aircraft.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is currently investigating all seven incidents.

Here's a list of all seven incidents of technical glitches reported of Spicejet aircraft in last 17 days:

July 5

Earlier in the day, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 Max aircraft on its way to Dubai from Delhi with 150 people on board landed in Karachi, Pakistan after it developed a technical glitch. Speaking to news agency IANS, a Spicejet official said that the aircraft landed safely in Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked. Meanwhile, a replacement aircraft was sent to Karachi that took take the passengers to Dubai.

Another SpiceJet flight landed safely in Mumbai with its outer windshield of the cockpit cracked, an airline spokesperson told IANS. SpiceJet flight landed safely in Mumbai with its outer windshield of the cockpit cracked, an airline spokesperson. At around 23,000 feet height, the outer pane of the windshield on the co-pilot's side cracked but the cabin pressurisation was observed to be normal.

July 2

A Jabalpur-bound SpiceJet aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Saturday after its crew noticed smoke in the cabin. A senior SpiceJet official told IANS that the said Q400 aircraft SG-2962 was operating between Delhi and Jabalpur. The aircraft landed safely in Delhi, following which passengers disembarked. The Delhi Fire Service was also alerted before the aircraft made the emergency landing. 

June 25

In a similar incident, a Guwahati-bound SpiceJet aircraft had to abort its take off on Saturday from Patna's Jay Prakash Narayan international airport due to some technical glitches. Later, another flight was arranged for the passengers and it went to Guwahati.

June 24

In yet another technical glitch, the fuselage warning light on a SpiceJet Q400 aircraft (Guwahati-Kolkata) lit up when it was on 'rotation', forcing them to abandon their journeys and return. According to reports, warning was coming from the baggage door at the rear end of the plane.

June 19

Even on on June 19, another SpiceJet flight bound for Delhi made an emergency landing in Patna airport. The left engine of the flight carrying 185 passengers, 4 crew members and 2 pilots was damaged after a bird-hit during take-off. The plane had reached a height of 2,000 feet. The pilot immediately called ATC for the emergency landing.

A Spicejet Bombardier Q400 Dash 8, developed a cabin pressurisation issue after departure from Delhi. Soon after taking off, the pilots noted that the cabin pressure did not build up in line with the altitude gain. Following this, the crew decided to return and the aircraft landed safely back in Delhi.