The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday launched a probe into Thursday's incident wherein SpiceJet's Boeing 737 Max aircraft conducted an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport after one of its engines faced a technical issue. The plane -- which has registration number VT-MXE that suffered this issue won't fly till it is cleared by the DGCA. The Boeing 737 Max resumed commercial flights last month in India after being grounded globally in March 2019.
Moreover, the DGCA has asked the airline, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and engine maker CFM to join the probe and provide all information regarding the engine snag.
In a statement regarding the incident, the budget carrier's spokesperson had said on Thursday: "SpiceJet flight SG- 467 operating Mumbai-Kolkata returned back to Mumbai after take-off due to a technical issue. The aircraft landed safely in Mumbai."
All Max planes were grounded in India by the DGCA on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX plane near Addis Ababa, which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead. After Boeing made necessary software rectifications, the DGCA had on August 26 this year lifted the ban on Max planes' commercial flight operations.
SpiceJet, the only operator of Max planes in the country, had signed a USD 22 billion deal with Boeing for 205 aircraft in 2017 and has 13 of these planes in its fleet at present. As of now, SpiceJet is the only Indian carrier that uses this aircraft. Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa has also ordered 72 of the Max.
