A SpiceJet passenger flight took off from Gujarat's Rajkot without the clearance of the Air Traffic Controller ATC on December 30, after the aviation regulator DGCA ordered a probe into the incident, officials said on Sunday. The pilots of Rajkot-Delhi flight have been off-rostered pending an inquiry by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA, a SpiceJet spokeswoman said.
The Rajkot-Delhi flight took off at around 9.30 am on December 30 and landed at the Delhi airport at 11.15 am, officials said.
Before taking off from an airport, an aircraft has to take multiple permissions from ATC. It needs to take permission to push back from the aircraft stand. Before starting the engines, it has to take permission. It needs to take permission to stand in the line up, and then a final permission is given for take off.
The pilots did not take requisite clearance from the ATC before taking off from Rajkot Airport on December 30, officials said.
The DGCA is looking into the December 30 incident to find out the reasons for this incident, they said.