Air India plane forced to make an emergency landing after its engine erupted into flames, with 179 passengers on board

Around ten minutes into its planned stopover in Bengaluru late on Saturday night, the engine of an Air India Express aircraft carrying passengers from Pune to Kochi caught fire. This resulted in the plane’s return and an emergency evacuation of its 179 passengers, who were left stranded in the Karnataka capital for almost thirteen hours. There were six crew members on IX-1132.

In a matter of days, Air India had experienced two fire scares. Following a fire alert from its auxiliary power unit, one of its aircraft headed for Bengaluru was forced to return to Delhi on May 17. There were about 175 people on that aircraft.

Regarding the events on Saturday, an Air India Express representative informed TOI that no guests were hurt during the crew’s successful evacuation. The official stated that a comprehensive investigation with the regulator would be carried out to determine the cause of the fire.

As to the statement provided by Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) spokesperson, “a full-scale emergency was declared and the fire was promptly extinguished upon landing”. According to sources, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would look into things in addition to the airline’s investigation.

We departed from Bengaluru at 10:50 p.m. We saw smoke coming from the engine at 11 p.m. Piyano Thomas one passenger who was in the plane stated that the aircraft had taken off from Pune at 8.20 p.m. rather than 7.40 p.m. The flight then turned back and landed in Bengaluru at 11.15 p.m.

Jose, Piyano’s husband, remembered that the cabin staff unlocked all the doors, including the emergency exits, as soon as the plane came to a stop. Slides for evacuation were set up. We were instructed to leave right away and head toward the area close to the runway. Our hand luggage was left back in the aircraft, and it was a terrifying scenario. Airport officials and the people from fire department hurried over to the plane as we were running. After spending around fifteen minutes in the field, a bus took us to the terminal. According to Jose, the ground and cabin people handled the situation very well. Jose also said that at first, officials promised them a different flight. “But then, they just changed their minds and announced that there would be no flight. It angered the flyers. At last, we received new boarding cards from the airline after they agreed.”

[With TOI inputs]