An IndiGo flight from Kolkata to Shillong was cancelled after an engine failure while the aircraft was taxiing towards the runway, prompting DMK MP P Wilson to question the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s airworthiness checks and seek an impartial review of aircraft certifications.
Wilson said he was travelling on flight 6E 7423 with three other MPs and 67 passengers to attend a Joint Parliamentary Committee public hearing when the aircraft stopped while moving from the parking bay towards the runway. According to his account, one engine failed before take-off and was shut down.
The passengers remained on board for about two hours before the pilot announced that a technical glitch had occurred and the flight was cancelled, Wilson said in a post on X. The incident occurred before the aircraft became airborne. The report supplied by Times of India did not include a response from IndiGo or the DGCA to the MP’s allegations.
Wilson described the aircraft as unsafe and questioned how it had been issued an airworthiness certificate. He urged Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu to direct the DGCA to conduct an impartial review of airworthiness certificates issued to aircraft operating across the country.
Airworthiness certification is the regulatory assurance that an aircraft meets the technical requirements needed to operate. Wilson called for the certificates of all aircraft to be reviewed and for surprise inspections by vigilance units wherever necessary. He said aircraft found not to meet the required standards should have their certificates cancelled, be grounded and prohibited from flying.
The MP also alleged an “unholy nexus” between some airlines and DGCA officials, claiming that it allowed unsafe aircraft, including aircraft allegedly operating without certificates, to remain in service. Those allegations were not independently established in the supplied report. Wilson linked his concerns to the risk of technical failures occurring after take-off and said passengers travelled on the assumption that flights were safe.
The incident places attention on the distinction between a technical failure identified during ground operations and the broader regulatory questions raised by the MP. The supplied report does not establish the cause of the engine failure, whether the aircraft had a valid airworthiness certificate at the time, or whether the DGCA has opened an inquiry.
Wilson said any compromise in the certification process could affect passenger safety, operational integrity and compliance with global regulatory norms. He called for accountability and strict action against officials found guilty of wrongdoing, including punishment for those responsible for allowing unsafe aircraft to operate.
The next steps sought by the MP are a DGCA review of aircraft airworthiness certificates, surprise inspections and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cancelled flight. No official decision or inquiry announcement was included in the supplied report.
