India: SpiceJet issued show cause notice after multiple flight safety incidents in 18 days

India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Tuesday issued a show cause notice to budget airline SpiceJet following several flight incidents over the last 18 days.

In a letter to the air carrier, the authority noted that on a number of occasions since April 1 this year, the aircraft in question either "turned back to its originating station or continued landing to the destination with degraded safety margins".

It further stated that the degradation of safety margins was due to "poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions", as most of the incidents were either due to component or system failure.

The airline has been given three weeks to show cause why action should not be taken against it.

Tweeting a copy of the notice, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, staed, "Passenger safety is paramount. Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected."

On Tuesday, a SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Dubai was diverted to Karachi after developing a technical fault due to a malfunctioning fuel indicator light.

As many as 138 passengers were left stranded at Jinnah International Airport in Pakistan for 11 hours till a replacement flight arrived.

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