2 SpiceJet flyers in ICU; DGCA starts inspection of entire aircraft fleet

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday announced that it is carrying out an inspection of the entire SpiceJet aircraft fleet after its Mumbai-Durgapur plane ran into a severe turbulence leading to injuries to 17 people.

Two of the injured passengers — one with head injury and another with spinal injury — are in ICU. The DGCA also took off the roster the flight’s crew, aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) and in-charge of SpiceJet’s maintenance control centre, pending a probe.

At present, the aircraft that was involved in the incident on Sunday is grounded in Kolkata, the DGCA said. The rest of the SpiceJet aircraft fleet are in operation. SpiceJet has 91 aircraft in its fleet, according to its website.

On Sunday, the Mumbai-Durgapur flight encountered a severe turbulence during its descent phase, injuring 14 passengers and three cabin crew members, the DGCA said in a statement.

“The DGCA has off-rostered the involved crew, the AME...and in-charge of Maintenance Control Centre of SpiceJet pending investigation,” it said.

“The involved aircraft is at present grounded in Kolkata. As a regulatory measure, DGCA is carrying out inspection of SpiceJet aircraft across the fleet,” it added.