Responding to a recent communication by Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the Civil Aviation Minister also said that the DGCA has completed 202 surveillance inspections in this financial year.
Responding to a recent communication by Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the Civil Aviation Minister also said that the DGCA has completed 202 surveillance inspections in this financial year.
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that the civil aviation ministry will create “adequate” posts in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to enhance its security oversight work.
Responding to a recent communication by Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the Civil Aviation Minister also said that the DGCA has completed 202 surveillance inspections so far in this financial year.
Ms. Chaturvedi had highlighted an incident on October 14 in a letter to Mr. Scindia. Smoke inside the cabin of SpiceJet’s Goa-Hyderabad flight and called for the airlines to take necessary action to maintain the highest level of safety standards.
On 12 October, SpiceJet’s Bombardier Q400 aircraft operating its flight from Goa to Hyderabad made an emergency landing in Hyderabad when its cabin was filled with smoke.
“… I have investigated the matter. Based on a preliminary investigation, evidence was found of engine oil in the engine bleed-off valve, causing oil to enter the aircraft’s air-conditioning system, resulting in the cabin There was smoke,” said Mr. Scindia said in his reply to Ms Chaturvedi on October 21.
The comments made by the DGCA were immediately communicated to SpiceJet for rectification, the minister said, adding, “DGCA is closely monitoring the situation and will take all appropriate action to prevent any untoward incident.” In the communication, Mr Scindia said, the ministry and DGCA place “supreme importance on the safety of air operations” and have taken several proactive measures to enhance the safety of air operations and reduce air incidents.
He said that apart from various steps, DGCA has conducted 59 spot checks of SpiceJet planes among others.
In July this year, the regulator had restricted SpiceJet’s flight operations to 50% of approved flights for eight weeks following several flight safety incidents and a show cause notice.
Later it was extended to 29 October.
However, on October 21, the flight regulator DGCA removed these restrictions and allowed it to operate at full capacity from October 30, 2022 to March 25, 2023 with a winter schedule starting.
“You will appreciate that as per the Annual Monitoring Plan for SpiceJet, the surveillance inspection has been increased to 47 in 2022-23 as against 33 in 2019-20.”
“In addition, a total of 155 surveillance inspections were conducted on the aircraft in 2019-20. In the year 2022-23, 202 surveillance inspections have been completed so far,” the minister said in response to Ms Chaturvedi’s letter.
“Also, the ministry has decided to strengthen the DGCA.”
In addition, DGCA is taking proactive steps to ensure that the level of safety standards are maintained by the airline, he said.
In case of any non-compliance, DGCA ensures that appropriate enforcement action is taken, Mr Scindia said.
Ms Chaturvedi said in the letter that passengers have the option of choosing airlines, but their employment dependence on the carrier they work with puts the lives of the crew at risk without any safety net. Is.
“Given the inadequacy of the earlier action taken by DGCA despite spot checks and investigations, I request you to take necessary and appropriate action to ensure that the airlines maintain the highest level of safety standards,” he said.