SpiceJet Boeing 737 Max En Route To Dubai Diverts To Karachi
The plane landed safely and a replacement aircraft is headed to Karachi to pick up passengers and complete the journey.
(Bloomberg) -- A Boeing Co. 737 Max operated by SpiceJet Ltd. flying from New Delhi to Dubai diverted to Karachi after an indicator light malfunctioned, according to a spokesman for the Indian low-cost carrier.
The plane landed safely and a replacement aircraft is headed to Karachi to pick up passengers and complete the journey, the spokesman said.
A Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson, who described the incident as an emergency landing, said the plane was carrying 138 passengers. He said there was an issue with the fuel indicator.
India’s aviation regulator is investigating, according to an official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, who said the crew noticed an unusual decrease in fuel in the left tank and decided to divert to Pakistan’s commercial capital. No emergency was declared, the official said, and no fuel leak was observed during inspections after landing.
Boeing’s Max jets were grounded worldwide in March 2019 following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed everyone on board both planes. The aircraft’s so-called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System was blamed for playing a part in both tragedies, prompting Boeing to make fixes to the software in order to get its best-selling plane certified to fly again.
In December, a SpiceJet Max had to return to Mumbai shortly after take off due to technical issue involving an oil filter light that prompted the crew to shut down an engine. The plane landed safely and nobody was injured.
SpiceJet shares fell as much as 2.9% on Tuesday.
A social-media backlash has grown against SpiceJet after several other non-fatal incidents flights involving various types of aircraft, with calls for an investigation into the airline’s safety practices.
A representative for India’s aviation ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment on the matter.
SpiceJet has a fleet of about 90 aircraft, including Q400 turboprops and Boeing 737s, according to its website. It is the only Indian airline to operate the Max.
The carrier, based near New Delhi, has like most others been strained by the Covid pandemic. At the end of 2021, it had cash and cash equivalents of 729 million rupees ($9.2 million), compared with total debt of 97.5 billion rupees.
While SpiceJet hasn’t taken delivery of any new Max jets since India lifted the ban, it plans to add at least seven this year, people familiar with the plan said last month.
India took longer than most major markets to recertify the Max, approving its return to the skies in August last year. That came after Boeing met requirements of local regulators, including setting up a simulator in the country. The US was among the first to allow the Max to resume commercial flights in late 2020, but it still hasn’t returned to full service in China.
(Adds comment from DGCA. A previous version was corrected for wrongly attributing SpiceJet spokesman saying plane made emergency landing.)
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