SpiceJet moves its chief of flight safety amid DGCA investigation

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Editor's note: SpiceJet has moved its chief of flight safety, Anushree Varma, to chairman Ajay Singh’s office as an officer on special duty even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation investigates an incident that happened on a Durgapur flight last month.  The move, says an industry executive in the know, pre-empts a possible suspension of Varma by the industry regulator.  On 2 May, a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence, leaving 17 passengers injured, some of them seriously. The aircraft was then cleared to carry on with its next flight. DGCA, which constituted a multi-disciplinary team to investigate the incident, had derostered the cockpit and cabin crew of the flight. It had also suspended a maintenance engineer and the airline’s maintenance control centre in-charge.  “Eventually, as the chief of flight safety, the final responsibility was Varma’s,” says an executive from the airline, asking not to be named. Varma replaces her husband, Jai Singh Sadana, as Singh’s OSD. Sadana, two executives confirmed, had resigned earlier this month. “The airline has made Varma the OSD to make it look like …