Full-scale emergency at Bengaluru airport after AI Express plane’s engine catches fire

A full-scale emergency was declared at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Saturday night after an Air India Express flight that took off for Kochi, was forced to return due to fire in one of its engines.

“Flight IX 1132 made an emergency landing at 23:12 hours due to a reported fire in one of the engines. A full-scale emergency was declared,” the BIAL said in a statement.

“The fire was promptly extinguished upon landing. All 179 passengers and six crew members were successfully evacuated from the aircraft,” the statement added.

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) manages KIA, the third-busiest airport in the country.

Air India Express, meanwhile, stated that the pilots “elected” to return to Bengaluru due to suspected flames in the aircraft’s right engine.

“Accordingly, a precautionary landing was carried out. The ground services also reported flames, resulting in an evacuation,” the low-cost airline, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Group’s Air India, said in its press release.

The carrier praised the flight crew for carrying out evacuation without injuries to any of the passengers.

“We regret the inconvenience this has caused and are working to provide alternative arrangements for our guests to reach their destination as soon as possible. A thorough investigation with the regulator shall be accomplished to establish the cause,” the release noted.

In a similar incident on Thursday, a full-scale emergency was declared at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) after an Air India flight, on its way to Bengaluru, returned to the national capital due to a fire in the plane’s AC unit.

AI 1807, which had 175 passengers on board, landed safely in Delhi.

(With PTI inputs)