Air carrier Go First's Mumbai-Leh and Srinagar-Delhi flights today developed engine problems and both planes were grounded, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.
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 a fault mid-air.
The civil aviation regulator added that it is investigating the matter and the planes shall fly only when cleared by DGCA.
There have been multiple technical malfunction incidents in planes flown by Indian carriers in the last 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.
Mr Scindia on Wednesday asserted that passenger safety was paramount.
The Union Minister said that even a small error hindering passenger safety will be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected
"Passenger safety is paramount. Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated & course-corrected," Mr Scindia said while sharing a show-cause notice issued to SpiceJet by the aviation regulator.
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.
Indian air carriers have recently been getting a lot of negative press as several incidents regarding safety and equipment malfunction were reported in quick succession.
Two days back, an IndiGo aircraft flying from Sharjah to Hyderabad was diverted to Pakistan after the pilot reported a technical defect in the aircraft. The plane made a precautionary landing in Karachi and all the passengers were safe.
On July 14, an IndiGo aircraft flying from Delhi to Vadodara was diverted to Jaipur out of precaution after vibrations were observed in the engines of the aircraft.
Earlier this month, a SpiceJet aircraft from Delhi to Dubai was diverted to Karachi due to a malfunctioning fuel indicator light in the cockpit.
DGCA had also issued a show cause notice to SpiceJet over failure to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services after several incidents involving planes of the air carrier were reported within a month.
