Highlights
- The Director General of Civil Aviation has asked SpiceJet to periodically draw engine oil samples every 15 days instead of presently 30 days
- It also asked the airline to introduce an inspection of the bleed-off valve screen and housing for evidence of oil wetness during every weekly check.
- It also asked the airline to introduce an inspection of the bleed-off valve screen and housing for evidence of oil wetness during every weekly check.
Troubles are mounting for the already troubled SpiceJet as the aviation regulator DGCA has directed the airline to send the engine oil samples of the entire Q400 fleet consisting of 14 operational aircraft to Pratt & Whitney Canada to ascertain the presence of metal and carbon seat particles.
The Director General of Civil Aviation has asked SpiceJet to periodically draw engine oil samples every 15 days instead of presently 30 days and sent them to the Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer.
The entire fleet is under scrutiny
It also directed a one-time Boroscopic inspection of all operational engines within one week and completion of the inspection on three engines, which have been received from Standard Aero, Singapore by Monday night.
It also asked the airline to introduce an inspection of bleed-off valve screen and housing for evidence of oil wetness during every weekly check.
DGCA also asked for an immediate inspection of magnetic chip detectors for the presence of any metal particles on reporting of fault in the central display system, which otherwise is a class 2 fault and calls for inspection within the next 65 flight hours. In case of detection of any metal particles, boroscopic inspection of the engine shall be carried out prior to the release of the aircraft.
Smoke inside Hyderabad flight cabin
The DGCA directives came after SpiceJet yet again made headlines for the wrong reasons recently.
On October 12 a SpiceJet flight coming from Goa made an emergency landing at Hyderabad airport after smoke was detected in the cabin.
DGCA’s preliminary investigation found that there was evidence of engine oil in the engine bleed-off valve. This led to the oil entering the aircraft’s air conditioning system which resulted in smoke in the cabin.
The crew told passengers to pray to God
Some passengers on board said that the crew told them to pray to God and even made them delete the videos they had recorded showing smoke inside the cabin.
Unending troubles of SpiceJet
SpiceJet is already facing unprecedented scrutiny by the DGCA following a series of mishaps on-board its flights and in July the DGCA had asked to operate only 50 percent of its flights, which were approved for the summer schedule.
Initially, the order was for eight weeks and in September the DGCA asked SpiceJet to continue only flying half of its fleet.
Apart from the operational troubles, SpiceJet had also struggled to pay off its lesser.
In July a UAE-based firm asked the DGCA to de-register three SpiceJet flights over non-payment of the lease amount.
