SpiceJet flight suffers mid-air turbulence, 17 injured; DGCA orders probe

KOLKATA: Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe into the incident of a flight falling into an air turbulence during a storm on Sunday before landing at the Kazi Nazrul Islam airport in Andal. About 17 passengers were injured.

A team of DGCA has already been sent to Andal to start the inquiry. On Sunday 17 passengers were seriously injured after cabin luggage of a Mumbai-Andal flight of Spicejet got stuck in the middle of a storm. While the flight was descending gradually to prepare for landing in Andal, it encountered a massive air turbulence when it was around 37,000 feet above the ground. Due to a massive jerk, a few seatbelts tore and passengers' heads collided with the other seats. In a video footage that had gone viral, it can be seen that objects are lying on the aisle of the flight. After the flight landed at the Andal airport, passengers were rushed to a hospital in Durgapur. DGCA has ordered a probe into the incident to find out if there are any negligence on behalf of anybody.Moreover, DGCA announced that it is carrying out an inspection of the entire SpiceJet aircraft fleet.

The DGCA also took off the roster the flight's crew, aircraft maintenance engineer and in-charge of SpiceJet's maintenance control centre, pending a probe. SpiceJet has 91 aircraft in its fleet, according to its website.