India’s civil aviation authority has fined airline SpiceJet Rs 10 lakh ($12,873) for training its pilots on a faulty Boeing 737 MAX simulator.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued the fine on May 30, 2022, according to local media.
“Training being imparted by SpiceJet could have adversely affected flight safety and was nullified,” the Business Standard daily cited the regulator as saying.
The DGCA in April suspended 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating the 737 MAX until they received further training. The low-cost airline operates 11 737 MAX aircraft and said at the time that the pilots in question were still authorized to operate other Boeing 737 aircraft.
The Business Standard said the DGCA surveillance team was carrying out a surveillance check when they found that the stick shaker of the simulator was not operational. A stick shaker warns crew of an impending stall by vibrating the control column.
AeroTime has reached out to SpiceJet for comment.
SpiceJet is currently India’s only operator of the 737 MAX. However, start-up airline Akasa has ordered 72 of the aircraft and plans to start operating in summer 2022.