Guwahati-bound Go First flight windshield cracks mid-air, plane diverted to Jaipur
Go First flight incident: This is the third incident of technical malfunction on a Go First aircraft in two days.
Go First flight incident: A Go First Delhi-Guwahati flight's windshield cracked mid-air following which the plane was diverted to Jaipur, DGCA officials informed on Wednesday.
It was a A320neo aircraft that experienced a windshield crack incident.
Earlier, two Go First flights, Mumbai-Leh and Srinagar-Delhi, faced engine snags on Tuesday and the two A320neo planes were grounded by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, officials said.
The aviation regulator is investigating the incidents and both planes, with Pratt and Whitney engines, will fly only when cleared by it, the officials said.
Both aircraft reported faults in engine number 2. The Mumbai-Leh flight was diverted to Delhi, DGCA officials said.
The Srinagar-Delhi flight returned to Srinagar after engine number 2 showed a fault mid-air.
There have been multiple technical malfunction incidents in planes flown by Indian carriers in the last one month.
Over the last three days, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has held multiple meetings with airlines and officials from his ministry and DGCA officials to ensure safety oversight.
The DGCA on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that an insufficient number of engineering personnel were certifying planes of various carriers before take-off.
In another incident, a Go First's aircraft, which was heading to Delhi, rejected take off on Tuesday as a dog came on the runway of Leh airport, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said.
The DGCA officials called it a “routine” incident.
As maintenance technicians at IndiGo and Go First continue to remain on sick leave protesting low salaries, aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday said it hopes the situation will improve soon.
IndiGo said it is in the process of addressing some of the issues related to employee remuneration and asserted that its flight operations continue to be normal.
Go First said a "few people" who had absented themselves from duties in the last two to three days were "misguided" and after counselling, they have assured the carrier that they will rejoin office either on Wednesday or Thursday.
In a statement on 'sick-leave protest', the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, "We are closely monitoring the situation. As of now, operations are normal.
Hopefully, it will be resolved shortly."
IndiGo has started taking disciplinary action against the aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) who went on mass sick leave in the last six days protesting low pay, sources said.
A significant section of Go First AMTs also went on sick leave in the last four days to protest their low salaries.
In a statement on Wednesday, IndiGo said, “As a responsible employer, IndiGo is in constant dialogue with its employees to take care of any issues or grievances."
The aviation industry has undergone a difficult phase over the past 24-plus months, it noted.
"As business recovers, we are in the process of addressing some of the issues related to employee remuneration. This is an ongoing activity and we will continue to take employee feedback in the process," it mentioned.
Meanwhile, IndiGo's operations continue to be normal, while it adds several new destinations to its network and looks forward to welcoming customers from across India and the world, the airline said.
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