Reports say 179 passengers aboard an Air India flight were left shaken after one of the engines on the aircraft taking them from Bengaluru to Kochi burst into flames
Passengers on an Air India Express flight were left terrified after the aircraft was forced to perform an emergency landing after part of its engine burst into flames.
Around 179 people and six crew members were on board the flight from Bengaluru to Kochi which took the unexpected and scary twist at around 10.50pm on Saturday. Luckily, nobody was injured in the incident which was declared a “full emergency” by staff at traffic control. The fire was successfully extinguished by the airport’s fire engines at 11:12pm following the emergency landing.
The flight was originally meant to take off at 9.45pm but was delayed for just over an hour, before the engine burst into flames minutes after take off. Vigilant passengers had to point out the engine fire to crew and several passengers – including children and women – were visibly shaken as the terrifying incident unfolded.
An Air India Express spokesman said: “Due to suspected flames from the right engine after take off, the Bengaluru- Kochi flight elected to return and carried out a precautionary landing at Bengaluru. The ground services also reported flames, resulting in an evacuation. The crew accomplished an evacuation with no injuries to any guests. 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.”
An investigation between the airline and regulatory bodies is now being conducted to find out the cause of the incident, an official statement has confirmed. It explained: “A thorough investigation with the regulator shall be accomplished to establish the cause.
“On May 18, 2024, IX 1132 from Bengaluru to Kochi made an emergency landing at Bengaluru airport at 11:12 pm, due to a reported fire in one of the engines,” Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), said in its release. A full-scale emergency was declared, and the fire was promptly extinguished upon landing. All 179 passengers and six crew members were successfully evacuated from the aircraft.”
Last June, hundreds of US-bound passengers were left stranded in a small Siberian town after their flight was forced to make an emergency landing. Hoping to get to San Francisco, the passengers instead found themselves in the remote Russian port town of Magadan and were forced to sleep on thin mattresses in local classrooms.
The Air India flight left from Delhi with 232 people on board but developed technical difficulties with one of the engines. The captain made the decision to make an emergency landing and the plane was diverted to Magadan. After safely making the landing, Air India said local authorities extended “all cooperation and support upon the flight’s arrival.”
A statement from the airline read: “Given the infrastructural limitations around the remote airport, we can confirm that all passengers were eventually moved to a makeshift accommodation, after making sincere attempts to accommodate passengers in hotels locally with the help of local government authorities. As we do not have any Air India staff based in the remote town of Magadan or in Russia, all ground support being provided to the passengers is the best possible in this unusual circumstance.”
