SpiceJet turbulence case: DGCA suspends pilot’s licence for 6 months
India Today
The DGCA has suspended the licence of a pilot-in-command for six months after he allegedly ignored his co-pilot’s input while landing a SpiceJet flight amid turbulence in Durgapur.
Aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the licence of a pilot-in-command for six months after he allegedly ignored his co-pilot’s input while landing a SpiceJet flight amid turbulence in Durgapur.
The incident occurred on May 1 when the Boeing B737 aircraft operating flight SG-945 from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during descent, which resulted in injuries to several passengers.
According to DGCA sources, the pilot-in-command disregarded a co-pilot's warning to skirt the clouds and flew the plane into severe turbulence.
There were a total of 195 persons on board the aircraft including two pilots and four cabin crew members. The aircraft that took off from Mumbai at approximately 5.13 pm, encountered severe turbulence and the vertical load factor varied from +2.64G and - 1.36G, at the time of descent, news agency ANI reported.
During this period, the autopilot got disengaged for two minutes and the crew manually flew the aircraft, the DGCA said.
In another instance, the DGCA suspended the licence of a pilot of a charter airplane in a false fuel emergency case for one month.
The pilot of a charter flight from Bokaro to Ranchi on October 19, 2021, falsely announced a low fuel emergency to receive priority landing because he wanted to avoid hovering period. Later, the investigation revealed that the plane had ample fuel.
