By Pragati Saha
A Surat-Dubai Indigo flight had to make an emergency landing at Ahmedabad on Thursday morning. The flight took off from Surat at 9:20 am and landed at Ahmedabad airport after a travel time of approximately an hour and a half. The pilot opted for diverting the plane after it faced a technical snag, an airport officer informed.
There were approximately 150 passengers on the flight. On account of a two-hour delay, a standby flight was booked and passengers were brought to Dubai safely. The flight departed for Dubai at about 1:45 pm.
Within minutes of the departure from the Surat International Airport, one of the engines of the plane suffered a technical snag. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation forthwith, the pilot immediately called up the Air Traffic Control and asked to divert the flight to the nearest accessible airport, which is Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
After the engine issue was announced, panic broke out among passengers, but the crew managed to keep cool. All the passengers landed safely at Ahmedabad airport, and there were no reports of injuries.
To ensure the landing, a spokesperson from the airport stated, “An Indigo flight operating from Surat to Dubai made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad after the pilot made a sudden decision to change the direction of the plane. Technical staff at the Ahmedabad Airport inspected the aircraft thoroughly.”
“Indigo flight 6E 1507, which was operating on the Surat to Dubai sector, made a precautionary landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, due to a technical snag. The aircraft is currently under necessary maintenance tests before resuming operations. Meanwhile, alternative aircraft were arranged in the shortest possible time to finish the journey.” An Indigo Spokesperson reported.
The accident is reminiscent of one that took place a month ago. In the earlier accident on July 15, Indigo flight 6E 6271, which had flown from Delhi to Goa, was being diverted to Mumbai, and it had done an emergency landing at Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport when one of its engines had failed.