The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing an incident involving SpiceJet’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which was forced to turn back shortly after taking off from Mumbai as the pilots decided to shut down one of the engines due to a glitch.
The airline resumed flying Boeing 737 MAX 8s last month, after it was grounded the world over in March 2019 following its involvement in two crashes that killed more than 300 people.
SpiceJet’s Mumbai to Kolkata flight (SG-467) took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Thursday at 6.55 p.m. Shortly after, the pilots turned back, and declared “PAN PAN”, or the international standard signal for urgency and the aircraft landed at the Mumbai airport at 7.50 p.m.
“The aircraft has been grounded,” Director General of DGCA Arun Kumar told The Hindu. “We are investigating in consultation with OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]. Further action shall depend on the outcome of the investigation,” he said. He explained that the air turnback was caused because the “No.2 engine oil filter bypass light got illuminated in cruise.”
A SpiceJet spokesperson said the aircraft landed safely in Mumbai.
