Fleet Turbulence Injures Passengers, This Airline Is Investigated By The Government

Illustration of the SpiceJet airline fleet. (Wikimedia Commons/Ramón)

JAKARTA - India's low-cost carrier SpiceJet is under government surveillance, following an incident in which the plane's autopilot malfunctioned, causing severe turbulence and multiple injuries on board.

India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating what happened to SpiceJet flight 945, which was traveling from Mumbai to Durgapur, West Bengal, on May 1.

A CNN News18 affiliate reported that the autopilot function on the B737-800 stopped working for two minutes mid-flight, causing the crew to manually fly the plane until it recovered.

As a result, the plane experienced dramatic turbulence, which caused several trash cans to open, items spilled all over the plane and emergency oxygen masks came out.

Fifteen people, 12 passengers and three crew, were hospitalized after the plane landed at Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (RDP) Durgapur.

"Seatbelt alerts flash when the aircraft experiences turbulence. Several announcements were made by pilots and crew instructing passengers to remain seated and fasten their seat belts. Due to severe turbulence, several passengers were injured," a spokesperson said. for SpiceJet said in a statement to CNN, quoted May 16.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has taken swift action regarding the incident. The plane itself has landed in Kolkata for inspection.

Apart from that, the agency also checked several crew members from the flight and the Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) in Durgapur who allowed the plane to leave after the incident.

"This matter is being handled very seriously and deftly," Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Scindia called the pain experienced by passengers as "unlucky".

News18 confirmed that two passengers on the plane were still being treated in hospital in critical condition, one with a head injury and the other with a spinal cord injury.

"SpiceJet expresses regret over this unfortunate incident and is providing all possible medical assistance to the injured," the spokesperson added.