4 flights saw Mayday calls in three months

New Delhi, July 28

Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said there were four incidents in the past three months (including July) when the operating crew of an aircraft had declared an emergency (Mayday). One engine of a Q400 Bombardier aircraft belonging to SpiceJet was found leaking during examination after the issue forced the crew to return to the airport from where they had taken off.

Of the remaining three cases, two were ATR72 planes belonging to IndiGo and a Boeing 737-800 belonging to Air India Express.

Scindia reported that 12 aircraft had been grounded in July after various “technical discrepancies” were found by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) during inspections or investigations.

In reply to a question, Scindia said a total of 177 surveillance, 497 spot checks and 169 night surveillance had been carried out by the DGCA on engineering and maintenance aspects of air operators from July 1 last year to June 30 this year.