DGCA bars 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating Boeing 737 MAX

During a routine check, the DGCA surveillance team found that the stick shaker of the simulator was non-functional

- ARINDAM MAJUMDER

Indian aviation regulator DGCA has barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from flying Boeing 737 MAX planes after faults were detected at the simulator centre for training. The pilots will have to be retrained, the regulator has ordered.

This comes within eight months of the DGCA lifting a ban on Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. While it was grounded worldwide from March 2019 to December 2020 following two crashes – in Indonesia and Ethiopia killing 346, DGCA lifted the ban much later in August 2021.

The faults were found during a surveillance check by the regulator at the Greater Noida-based facility of CAE Simulation Training Pvt Ltd (CSTPL), which is a joint venture between IndiGo promoter Rahul Bhatia's Inter-globe Enterprise and Canada-based flight simulator company CAE.

CSTPL has the only approved 737 MAX simulator in India. This was installed by Boeing as part of a compensation package it provided to SpiceJet due to the business loss caused by the two-year grounding of the aircraft.

Scheduled surveillance checks and surprise audits are done by the regulator to find inefficiencies in the safety system of airlines, airports, flying training organisations and simulators to find deficiencies and implement corrective measures.