Go First Mumbai-Leh and Srinagar-Delhi flights suffer engine snag, both planes grounded

Go First's Mumbai-Leh and Srinagar-Delhi flights suffered engine snags today (July 19). Both planes were grounded by the aviation watchdog Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The DGCA is looking into the matter and both the planes will fly only when the aviation regulator gives them a nod. Go First's Mumbai-Leh flight was diverted to Delhi as a fault was observed in engine number 2 on Tuesday, DGCA officials said. Go First's Srinagar-Delhi flight also returned to Srinagar after the aircraft's engine number 2 showed fault mid-air.

Go First did not respond to PTI's request for a statement on this matter. There have been multiple technical malfunction incidents in planes flown by Indian carriers in the last one month. Over the last three days, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has held multiple meetings with airlines and officials from his ministry and the DGCA officials to ensure safety oversight.

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The DGCA on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that an insufficient number of engineering personnel were certifying planes of various carriers before take-off. Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME).

The DGCA has now issued guidelines for airlines on the deployment of qualified AME personnel and directed them to comply by July 28. The spot checks also found that AME teams of airlines are improperly identifying the "cause of a reported defect", the DGCA order noted.

On July 17, IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precautionary measure after pilots observed a defect in one engine. On the night of July 16, the Calicut-Dubai flight of the Air India Express was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air.

A live bird was found in the cockpit of the Air India Express Bahrain-Kochi flight on July 15. SpiceJet is under the scanner right now. On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19. The DGCA is currently investigating all these incidents.

(With inputs from PTI)

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