It was a Mumbai to Kolkata flight on December 9, 2021. After 15 minutes of departure, the pilots had to shut down an engine and divert the flight back to Mumbai where the aircraft LANDED SAFELY.
Key points to note –
- SpiceJet is currently the only Boeing 737 MAX operator in India.
- Previously, Boeing 737 MAX had suffered recurring problems which had the aircraft system overriding the pilot’s inputs to repeatedly push the plane’s nose down post-take-off. This had led to two fatal accidents, one in Indonesia and the other in Ethiopia, killing a total of 346 people.
- Consequently, the aircraft model was grounded worldwide from November 2019. US cleared in to resume one year later in November 2020.
- However, in India, SpiceJet resumed them back only last month in November.
Though I hope the incident was one off and hence should not make much difference. However, news like these do no good to customer demand especially when this comes immediately on the back of another negative news, whereby Madras High Court issued order of winding up the Company.
“So far seven Boeing 737 Max (of SpiceJet) were flying in India post their return to service (last month). One has been grounded following an engine snag. The other six will fly under increased regulatory surveillance. SpiceJet has been given a list of parameters to observe very closely and report if any deviation from accepted levels like oil temperature, pressure and engine vibration is noticed to us immediately,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/post-snag-dgca-to-keep-eye-on-spicejet-737-max/articleshow/88230030.cms