Vistara Delhi-Bangkok flight develops technical snag post landing, towed on single engine

A Bangkok-Delhi Vistara flight landed and then one of its engines was turned off after it developed a technical snag on Tuesday (July 5). Vistara UK-122 (BKK-DEL) landed at Delhi airport and then had one of its engines turn off.

The Air traffic control (ATC) was informed of the development and the aircraft was towed to the parking bay. Vistara Airlines has issued a statement and revealed that the incident occurred due to a minor electrical malfunction. All passengers and crew have landed safely in the national capital.

According to a Vistara spokesperson, "After landing in Delhi, while taxing to the parking bay, our flight UK122 (BKK-DEL) had a minor electrical malfunction on July 5. Keeping passenger safety and comfort in mind the crew elected to tow the aircraft to the bay." The matter has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). 

DGCA issues show-cause notice to SpiceJet 

Earlier, the DGCA had pulled up SpiceJet Airlines and issued a show-cause notice to the air carrier in connection to its purported degradation of safety margins of the flights. Noting that multiple incidents of malfunctioning have been reported in the past few weeks, DGCA has asked why action should not be taken against SpiceJet. 

As per the notice issued on Tuesday, July 5, the aviation regulator stated that it has observed that on a number of occasions, the aircraft had either turned back to its originating station or continued making emergency landings due to the degraded safety margins.

Stating that the review transpires poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance action causing such incidents, the notice also mentioned that the expert financial assessment carried out by the DGCI in September last year revealed that the airline is operating on 'cash and carry' and suppliers/approved vendors are also not being paid on a regular basis, leading to a shortage of spares and frequent invoking of MELs. 

Reacting to the development, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has also supported the action, stating that passenger safety is paramount and even the smallest error and hindering of safety should be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected.