DGCA slaps Rs 10 lakh fine on SpiceJet, Check here why

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on SpiceJet for training a Boeing 737 MAX pilot on a bad simulator.

What was the matter?
On May 1, a SpiceJet Boeing B737 flight going from Mumbai to Durgapur in West Bengal got stuck in turbulence. Due to this, about 40 passengers aboard were injured. Out of these, the condition of 10 was critical. However, the plane landed safely on the runway.

Investigation details
In fact, SpiceJet has 650 pilots trained on a Boeing 737 Max. The DGCA had last month conducted an observation on the training profile of the pilots, after which as per the advice of the DGCA, 90 pilots of SpiceJet were banned from operating the Max aircraft. These pilots were ordered to train again. These pilots will not be able to fly Boeing 737 aircraft without retraining.

SpiceJet Statement
SpiceJet said that this restriction does not affect the operation of Max aircraft. SpiceJet currently operates 11 MAX aircraft and requires around 144 pilots to operate these aircraft and the airline still has 560 trained pilots, which is much more than the requirement.