Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the license of a pilot of Spicejet for six months after he ignored the suggestion of the co-pilot.
The decision took place in response to an incident that happened on May 1 in which a flight from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during landing. The severe turbulence had caused injuries to nearly 14 passengers along with three crew members.
The co-pilot had suggested not to fly the Boeing 737 plane through the clouds ahead and skirt them which he PIC ignored. Further, he decided to pass through the green patch of the clouds believing that they could make it through them which resulted in severe turbulence, said a DGCA official.
As soon as the incident occured the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia had shown concern and taken the matter seriously. He had tweeted, “The turbulence encountered by a flight while landing in Durgapur, and the damage caused to the passengers is unfortunate. The @DGCAIndia has deputed a team to investigate the incident. The matter is being dealt with utmost seriousness & deftness.”
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.
(With Inputs from IANS)