SpiceJet Durgapur flight incident: DGCA suspends pilot for 6 months for ignoring co-pilot's input

The pilot-in-command (PIC) of a SpiceJet flight had his license suspended for six months by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after he ignored the co-pilot's input.

In the incident that happened on May 1, as many as 14 passengers and 3 cabin crew members were injured.

A senior DGCA official on Saturday said the licence of the pilot-in-command of the flight has been suspended for six months due to various violations.

According to sources, the PIC's co-pilot requested that the captain avoid flying into the clouds and instead skirt them. Notably, there were 195 people on board the aircraft, including two pilots and four cabin staff members. At  5.13 p.m., the flight took off from Mumbai.

Following the event, the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), formed a multidisciplinary team to investigate the severe turbulence incident on SpiceJet's Mumbai-Durgapur aircraft, which injured up to 15 people.

In recent months, various SpiceJet flights have faced issues, including technical problems.

On July 27, DGCA ordered the airline to operate a maximum of 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks in the wake of multiple incidents.

(With inputs from PTI)

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