double trouble: SpiceJet flights return to Patna & Delhi after bird hit & cabin pressurisation snag Saurabh Sinha

double trouble: SpiceJet flights return to Patna & Delhi after bird hit & cabin pressurisation snag
Saurabh Sinha !
NEW DELHI: A SpiceJet Boeing 737 with about 200 people on board returned safely to Patna soon after take off on Sunday after the airport got calls from locals who had reportedly seen fire in one of the engines.

The aircraft (VT-SYZ), prima facie, suffered bird hit during take off. The pilots of flight SG 723 switched off the affected engine and returned safely to Patna. Luckily no one was injured in this emergency landing. The aircraft had 185 passengers (including two infants) and six crew members (two pilots and four cabin crew).

This was the second SpiceJet flight scare on Sunday. A Dash8 Q400 flying from Delhi to Jabalpur as SG 2962 also had to return to the origin soon after take off. The turboprop (VT-SUU) suffered a "pressurisation snag".
About the Patna air turnback (return after taking off), a senior DGCA official said: "The cabin crew informed the pilot in command about sparks coming out of engine number one. During (take off), cockpit crew had suspected bird hit on engine 1. Since they did not observe any abnormality, the aircraft continued further climb."

"Subsequently, cabin crew informed PIC about sparks coming from engine 1. The PIC carried out the SOP for engine fire followed by engine failure or shutdown," the official added.

The crew then declared PAN-PAN and decided to return to Patna. ATC was apprised about the same. The aircraft landed safely at Patna.
On the Delhi-Jabalpur flight, the SpiceJet Q400 crew had o served that "during initial climb, cabin pressure differential was not building up along with rise in cabin altitude. Aircraft levelled off at 6000 feet and a checklist of actions were carried out. Pressurisation was not regained. Air turn back was initiated and aircraft landed safely at Delhi," said an official.