Nashik-bound SpiceJet flight returns midway due to 'autopilot' snag

New Delhi, Sep 01: A SpiceJet flight that took off for Nashik in Maharashtra from the Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday morning returned midway to the city due to an 'autopilot' snag, an official said.

SpiceJet flight SG-8363 took off from Delhi at 6.54am and returned after an hour of its departure time. However, the Boeing 737 aircraft landed safely and the passengers were being shifted to a smaller Q400 aircraft.

"SpiceJet B737 aircraft VT-SLP, operating flight SG-8363 (Delhi-Nashik) on Thursday was involved in an air turnback due to an autopilot snag," PTI quoted a DGCA official as saying.

Facing financial turbulence amid high fuel prices and rupee depreciation, SpiceJet aircraft have been involved in a series of incidents in the past as well, following which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued a show-cause notice to the airline.

On July 27, the aviation safety regulator had also ordered the airline to operate a maximum of 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks.

"In view of the findings of various spot checks, inspections and the reply to the show cause notice submitted by SpiceJet, for continued sustenance of safe and reliable transport service, the number of departures of SpiceJet are hereby restricted to 50 per cent of the number of departures approved under summer schedule 2022 for a period of 8 weeks," DGCA's order said.