SpiceJet Durgapur flight incident: DGCA suspends pilot's licence for 6 months

The co-pilot had asked the captain to avoid flying the Boeing 737 plane through the clouds ahead and to skirt them. However, the pilot-in-command decided otherwise

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the licence of the pilot-in-command (PIC) of a SpiceJet flight for six months after he ignored the co-pilot's suggestion onboard a Boeing B737 aircraft.

The development is related to the May 1 incident in which a flight from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during landing.

A senior DGCA official on Saturday said the licence of the pilot-in-command of the flight has been suspended for six months due to various violations. Among others, the pilot could have dealt with the bad weather situation in a better manner, the official said.

Taking immediate action following the incident, the DGCA ordered the airline to take the two pilots off the roster and subsequently issued a show cause notice, seeking an explanation about the incident in the flight carrying nearly 195 people. As per officials, the airline was asked to submit its response within a fortnight.

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There were no comments on the issue from SpiceJet.

Since it was a serious incident, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was probing the matter. As many as 195 people, including 2 pilots and 4 cabin crew members were onboard the flight.

Earlier, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had said the 14 passengers and 3 cabin crew members suffered injuries related to head, spine, shoulder, forehead and face.

In recent months, various SpiceJet flights have faced issues, including technical problems. On July 27, DGCA ordered the airline to operate a maximum of 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks in the wake of multiple incidents.