India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating a May 1 incident involving a SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) B737-800 in which 17 people were hurt, senior government officials have told CNBC-TV18.
This followed a preliminary report by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which is also inspecting the entire SpiceJet fleet as a precautionary measure, Indian newspapers reported.
VT-SLH (msn 33597) had encountered severe turbulence on descent from Mumbai International to Durgapur resulting in 17 of the 195 people on board being injured, including 14 passengers and three cabin crew. Three people were hospitalised with head and spinal injuries, of whom two are in intensive care.
According to the DGCA report cited by India Today: "During descent, the aircraft experienced severe turbulence and the vertical load factor varied from +2.64G and - 1.36G. During this period the autopilot got disengaged for two minutes and the crew manually flew the aircraft”. Overhead panels in the cabin had opened, oxygen masks had fallen off, and galley items had been scattered.
The 15-year-old aircraft is currently located at Kolkata, according to FlightRadar24 ADS-B data.
The DGCA had grounded the crew involved, an aircraft maintenance engineer, and the person in charge of the maintenance control centre at SpiceJet pending the investigation, news reports said.
SpiceJet was not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson told India Today: "The seat belt sign was on when the aircraft encountered turbulence. Multiple announcements were made by the pilots and the crew instructed passengers to remain seated and keep their seat belt fastened. Immediate medical assistance was provided upon arrival in Durgapur. SpiceJet expresses its regret at this unfortunate incident. The problem occurred due to air turbulence as a result of a storm."
Spicejet's passenger fleet includes twenty-seven B737-800s, thirteen B737-8s, five B737-700s, plus thirty-two DHC-8-Q400s, according to ch-aviation fleets data.
