Pilots on price range airline grounded after photograph of their cockpit espresso break goes viral—and sparks main security considerations

A picture that circulated extensively on social media in latest days confirmed an uncovered cup—with the airline’s emblem on its facet—stuffed with what seems to be tea or espresso balanced precariously near the airplane’s management levers.

It additionally confirmed one of many pilots holding a gujiya, a candy pastry often made to have a good time the competition of Holi, which passed off on March 8. The second pilot has a pastry balanced on the aircraft’s controls.

The pilots’ faces weren’t proven within the image.

⁦@CaptShaktiLumba⁩ ⁦@AwakenIndia⁩ ⁦@leofsaldanha⁩ ⁦@NarendranKs⁩ ⁦@OMRcat⁩ ⁦@jagritichandra⁩ ⁦@nambath⁩ ⁦@JM_Scindia⁩ Samosa and tea at 37000ft, cruising at 0.79M!Even horoscope cant prevent if there’s an emergency😡 pic.twitter.com/6UfhnDfzOk

— Mohan Ranganathan (@Mohan_Rngnathan) March 14, 2023

In line with Indian media, the image was taken on board a home flight between Delhi and Guwahati final week, because the aircraft was cruising at round 600 miles per hour.

On Tuesday, India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate Normal of Civil Aviation (DGCA), demanded that SpiceJet determine the pilots within the {photograph} and take motion in opposition to them.  

The DGCA’s involvement resulted in each pilots being suspended from flying by the airline.

A spokesperson for SpiceJet was not instantly out there for remark when contacted by Fortune.

Nevertheless, an organization consultant confirmed in an announcement to the Occasions of India that each pilots had been taken off the airline’s rosters whereas an inquiry was carried out.

“SpiceJet has a strict coverage for consumption of meals contained in the cockpit which is adhered to by all flight crew,” the consultant stated. “Acceptable disciplinary motion can be taken upon completion of the investigation.”

Previous incidents

Having liquids so near an plane’s management system could be a hazard, as any spills may harm digital tools and even end in engine failure.

Between 2019 and 2020, two Airbus jets suffered midair engine shutdowns and had been compelled to divert after drinks had been spilled within the cockpit.

A separate case in 2019 noticed a Condor flight from Germany to Mexico diverted to Eire after a pilot spilled espresso on the aircraft’s controls.

In 2020, the EU’s aviation regulator banned A350 pilots from consuming espresso within the cockpit to scale back the chance of spilling liquid on digital controls.

Aviation security advisor Mohan Ranganathan, who shared a duplicate of the picture on Twitter, stated in a tweet that the pilots concerned had breached security protocol.

“Even the slightest turbulence and low spills on to the electronics, it can foul the methods,” he said.

The espresso break fiasco is the most recent in a string of unhealthy publicity for SpiceJet, with the airline going through a number of regulatory investigations over the previous 12 months.

In Could, the DGCA launched a probe right into a SpiceJet flight, after the aircraft’s autopilot characteristic stopped working for 2 minutes. The malfunction led to extreme turbulence that resulted in 15 individuals being hospitalized with accidents.

The regulator ordered SpiceJet to halve its flights for eight weeks in July owing to an unusually excessive variety of incidents.