Massive scare as SpiceJet aircraft loses wheel on take-off, lands safely in Mumbai

Published on Authored by C to I News Desk

Indian low-cost airline SpiceJet faced a fresh safety scare on Friday, September 12, when one of its flights operating from Kandla in Gujarat to Mumbai lost an outer wheel soon after take-off.

SpiceJet Aircraft
A SpiceJet aircraft. Representational image. Photo courtesy: www.instagram.com/spicejetairlines

The Q400 aircraft, however, completed its journey without any untoward incident and landed safely in Mumbai, where passengers disembarked normally. The wheel was later found on the Kandla runway.

This incident came a day after another SpiceJet aircraft reported a suspected tailpipe fire at Delhi airport. The Kathmandu-bound flight, which was being operated with a Boeing 737-8, had just begun taxiing when the crew was alerted by another aircraft on the ground.

Although no warning lights appeared in the cockpit, the pilots returned to the bay as a precaution. The flight, originally scheduled to depart in the morning, was delayed by over four hours. Checks later confirmed the aircraft was fit to resume service.

The airline, meanwhile, has been struggling financially. In the first quarter of the current financial year, SpiceJet slipped into losses, reporting a consolidated net loss of INR 234 crore.

This marked a sharp reversal from the INR 158 crore profit it posted during the same period last year. Revenue from operations fell by 34.4 percent year-on-year to INR 1,120 crore, down from INR 1,708 crore.

The carrier attributed the losses to expenses related to grounded aircraft and the costs of restoring them to service, along with the impact of geopolitical tensions and restricted airspace in certain markets that have reduced demand for leisure travel.