The Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) has issued show cause notices to four senior SpiceJet executives on July 4 for alleged lapses leading to a string of runway mishaps this week.

An audit team shot off notices to the airline's chief of flight safety, senior vice-president of operations, head of training and the accountable executive after going through records at the SpiceJet headquarters in Gurgaon on July 3. Breach of safety standards has reportedly been attributed to Spicejet, and these executives have been made answerable by the aviation regulator.

The notices are reported to have sought explanations for passing off the requirement for corrective training for crews concerned with mere counseling. The audit team reportedly established that the airline's deputy chief of training counseled the crew involved "telephonically" even for the "events" where "corrective training" was required.

The notices are reported to have sought explanations for passing off the requirement for corrective training for crews concerned with mere counseling. The audit team reportedly established that the airline's deputy chief of training counseled the crew involved "telephonically" even for the "events" where "corrective training" was required

Besides, no Safety Action Group was constituted in line with mandatory requirements to discuss and resolve critical safety issues. Personnel were also found not to have undergone 'Safety Management System Training'.

The head of training did not attend any Safety Review Board meeting, the DGCA audit revealed, leading to the inference that the need for corrective action after repeated incidents of aircraft veering off the runway was not being given the importance that it required.

Spicejet has also been accused of failing to report the incidents to the DGCA, as is mandatory.

The four executives are required to respond to the DGCA show-cause notices within 15 days.

"We are in receipt of the show cause notices issued by the DGCA. The concerned officials will submit their replies within the timeframe given by the regulator," a SpiceJet Spokesperson is reported to have stated.

He also added, "Safety is the core value of our operations and is a shared objective of both the DGCA and SpiceJet. We will take all possible steps that may be required to further strengthen our safety mechanism."

On June 30, Flight SG-3722, a SpiceJet aircraft (Flight SG-3722) overshot the runway at Surat by 270m.

The very next day, another SpiceJet aircraft flying from Jaipur overshot the runway at Mumbai. This was the most serious of the runway mishaps, with the aircraft skidding off the runway. The incident led to the closure of the Mumbai airport's main runway, causing delay and diversions for about 100 flights. The runway was finally cleared for operations after the salvage of the stranded aircraft after four days.

The head of training did not attend any Safety Review Board meeting, the DGCA audit revealed, leading to the inference that the need for corrective action after repeated incidents of aircraft veering off the runway was not being given the importance that it required

SpiceJet took yet another knock on July 2 when SG-275 while landing at Kolkata veered off the runway amidst heavy rain.

Three more runway incidents involving other airlines between June 30 and July 2 forced DGCA to ground the 12 pilots of all six flights involved.

The aviation regulator had also issued an 'Air Safety Circular' on July 2 under the subject 'Monsoon Operations' in the wake of these mishaps. "Crew should be well aware of the aircraft limitations and of take-off/ landing performance calculations during the adverse weather operations. The crew rostering should factor in the fatigue element associated with the operations during the adverse weather conditions," the circular stated.

The Circular also advised abandoning a landing and going-around for another attempt if the approach became tricky or visual references for safe landing compromised because of bad weather.