IndiGo Denies Reports of Smoke on Raipur-Indore Flight, Says 'Mist Was Created'

DGCA official on Wednesday said that the cabin crew of the IndiGo Raipur-Indore flight observed smoke in the plane.

IndiGo on Thursday, 7 July, said there was no smoke in the cabin of a flight from Raipur to Indore on Tuesday, instead saying that "mist was created" by the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system due to humidity.

The statement came a day after officials of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the cabin crew of the IndiGo Raipur-Indore flight observed smoke in the plane after it landed at its destination on Tuesday.

"There have been false reports on 'smoke in the cabin' of flight 6E-905 from Raipur to Indore... There was no smoke in the cabin but mist created by the HVAC system due to humidity," IndiGo said on Thursday.

Further, the airline said there have been no incidents of in-flight shutdown of engines on IndiGo flights in the recent past.

"We strongly refute these reports, which seem to have been falsely propagated by entities with a vested interest, to mislead customers and authorities," the statement said.

SpiceJet Served DGCA Notice

The DGCA on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet in connection with the degradation of safety margins of its aircraft.

SpiceJet has failed to establish safe, efficient, and reliable air services under Aircraft Rules,1937, the DGCA said. It further said that DGCA's audit of SpiceJet carried out in September 2021 found that component suppliers were not being paid on a regular basis, leading to shortage of spare parts.

The DGCA noted that on multiple occasions, "the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing to the destination with degraded safety margins."

Stating that SpiceJet had thus failed to establish a "reliable, safe and efficient airline services," it issued a show-cause notice asking why "action should not be taken against the company."

Just a day ago, incidents were reported on three separate SpiceJet aircraft, taking the total of technical malfunctions affecting a SpiceJet aircraft in the last 18 days to eight.

(With inputs from PTI.)