SpiceJet Dismisses Reports Of Windshield Crack In Flight, Says No Surprise Audit Conducted By DCGA

Reports claimed that a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai was delayed for six hours because of DGCA's surprise audit. Another report claimed that windshield of its flight cracked minutes after departure.

New Delhi: Indian budget airline SpiceJet on Monday dismissed reports claiming the windshield of an aircraft cracked minutes after its departure from Chennai and another flight was delayed by six hours after a surprise inspection called by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Reports said that a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai to Srinagar was delayed for six hours on July 9 because of DGCA's surprise audit of the aircraft. Another report claimed that on July 10 windshield of SpiceJet's Chennai-Shirdi flight cracked minutes after its departure from Chennai.

On July 9 media reports, Spicejet spokesperson the Mumbai-Srinagar flight was not grounded by DGCA. The spox stated that there has been no surprise audit by DGCA in the last few days. If and when there is a DGCA inspection, the airline would be informed in advance.

"No incident of windshield crack was reported on SpiceJet's Chennai-Shirdi flight on Sunday as has been reported by a section of the media. The news item is strongly denied by SpiceJet," the airline clarified, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Recently, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet in connection to the degradation of the safety margins of its aircraft. The show cause notice came after eight malfunction incidents were reported in 18 days. Three technical or related snags were reported on July 6.

Following DGCA's notice to SpiceJet, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said: "Passenger safety is paramount. Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected."

A SpiceJet cargo aircraft headed to Chongqing on July 6 had to return to Kolkata airport after a glitch was detected in its weather radar following take-off. 

On July 5, SpiceJet's Delhi-Dubai flight was diverted to Karachi due to a malfunctioning fuel indicator and its Kandla-Mumbai flight did a priority landing in Mumbai after cracks developed on its windshield mid-air.

On June 19, an engine on a Delhi-bound aircraft carrying 185 passengers caught fire soon after the takeoff from Patna airport. The engine malfunctioned because of a bird hit. In another incident on June 19, a flight for Jabalpur had to return to Delhi due to cabin pressurisation issues.