Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia chairs safety meet amid series of aviation incidents

Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today chaired a meeting with Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials amid series of aviation incidents.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia chaired a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in continuation of the on-going regular review of flight occurrences, sources told India Today TV. A two-hour meeting was chaired by Jyotiraditya Scindia with senior officials of MoCA and DGCA, sources said.

Directions were issued with regard to tightening and further improving safety oversight by the DGCA. The minister reiterated that passenger safety is paramount, and there will be no compromise with regard to safety, reliability of airline operations and alignment with the strictest international safety norms.

Earlier in the day, an Air India Express aircraft with registration number VT-AXX operating flight IX-355 from Calicut to Dubai was diverted to Muscat. The flight was diverted when a burning smell was detected from one of the vents in the forward galley during the cruise.

ALSO READ| Calicut-Dubai Air India Express flight diverted to Muscat after burning smell detected in vent

In another incident, an IndiGo flight from Sharjah in the UAE to Hyderabad was diverted to Pakistan’s Karachi on Sunday after the pilot reported a "technical defect" in the aircraft. The airline is reportedly planning to send another aircraft to Karachi to bring back the passengers. This is the second Indian airline to make a landing in Karachi in the last two weeks.

Earlier this month, a SpiceJet aircraft, which took off from Delhi and was headed to Dubai, landed in Karachi with around 150 passengers aboard. All passengers were said to be safe. However, the incident drew the attention of aviation regulator DGCA, which started a probe into the matter.

ALSO READ| SpiceJet pulled up for 'inadequate maintenance' after 8 incidents in 18 days