The Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday that Air India reported the most incidents of technical snags in the one year period till June 30, followed by budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet. While Air India reported 184 technical snags, IndiGo and SpiceJet reported 98 and 77 incidents respectively, PTI reported.
“Overall, a total of 478 incidents of technical snags were reported in last one year between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh said in his written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
In the said period, Go First, Vistara and AirAsia India reported 50, 40 and 14 incidents due to technical snags. The government-run airline Alliance Air reported five incidents and Air India Express had 10 incidents.
The Tata Group took control of Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express on January 27 this year after successfully winning the bid for the airline.
The minister said an aircraft might experience technical snags due to malfunctioning of components or equipment fitted on the aircraft.
“These technical snags are reported by the flight crew on receiving an aural or visual warning in the cockpit or when there is an indication of an inoperative or faulty system or while experiencing difficulty in handling or operating the aircraft,” VK Singh said.
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In the last two months, several flights of budget carriers have reported multiple incidents of technical malfunction.
SpiceJet has been asked to operate not more than 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The order came after SpiceJet planes were involved in at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in the June 19-July 5 period.
Amid increasing engineering related occurrences in airlines, the DGCA conducted several spot checks last month. It directed that airlines shall make available the required type rated certifying staff at all stations for ensuring that defects are properly rectified before the aircraft is released for operations.
(With inputs from agencies)