A Lucknow bound flight made an emergency landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport on Monday, 40 minutes after it had taken off from Ahmedabad. With 186 passengers on board, IndiGo flight 6E 244 had requested to return back for emergency landing after it reported an engine failure mid-air. The A320 Neo plane that departed at 9.21 am landed back safely at 10.04 am.
Confirming the same, Manoj Gangal, Airport Director, SVPI said, "As soon as we received request from the pilot reporting failure of second engine, we made necessary arrangements for the same, declaring full emergency and the aircraft was safely landed. The engineers of the airline had flew down to check the aircraft and once it was rectified, it was declared fit to fly. Keeping in view of passenger requirements and issues that they faced because of technical snag, we allowed the aircraft to fly at 3.30 pm, in a special case."
It is to be noted that runway repair work is being carried out at Ahmedabad airport due to which the runway is shut from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm everyday. This case was treated as a special case by the Ahmedabad airport officials and hence the aircraft was allowed to fly.
A statement from IndiGo said: IndiGo flight 6E 244 from Ahmedabad to Kolkata after take-off experienced technical glitch with its #2 engine. The flight crew carried out actions as per SOP ad landed back at Ahmedabad following precautionary measures. The matter is being investigated by IndiGo flight safety team and DGCA.
This is the most recent in the unending snags with the Pratt and Whitney (PW) engines powering Airbus-320 Neo aircraft.
INCIDENTS IN THE PAST:
- City airport off late has handled lot of emergencies. On Novmeber 21, a Mumbai bound Jet airways flight with 111 passengers on board had made an emergency landing after the pilot spotted fire in its cargo. The flight that departed from Udaipur had 111 passengers on board. However, around 6.31, the pilot signaled the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of some emergency. The ATC immediately gave the aircraft permission to land and finally the flight landed at 6.50 pm.
- On September 30, a Delhi bound Jet Airways flight from Mumbai was diverted to Ahmedabad in the wee hours after the pilot feared hijackers on board. The flight 9W 339 had taken off from Mumbai at 2.55 am but soon the crew member found a letter in the lavatory stating that the aircraft has hijackers on board and should not land in Delhi. When the crew informed the pilot about the same, he informed the air traffic control and the plane was diverted and landed at SVPI airport around 3.45 am.
- On September 19, a Delhi bound Spice Jet flight from Surat had made an emergency landing at city airport after the pilot witnessed the tail fire warning light on. After the tail fire warning light was on, a request of diversion was made to Ahmedabad. The flight SEJ474 from Surat to Delhi had 164 passengers on board and no one was injured during the incident.
