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IndiGo denies Goa minister claim of its plane engine catching fire mid-air
Goa’s environment minister Nilesh Cabral confirmed the incident and said that the sight of the left engine ablaze caused panic and mayhem aboard the flight but the pilot handled the situation well.
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A Goa- Delhi IndiGo flight with 180 passengers on board was forced into turnaround after it suffered engine failure. The passengers also included Goa environment minister Nilesh Cabral and a team of officers. The airline, however, denied the occurrence of fire in the engine.
Speaking to HT, Cabral confirmed the incident and said that the sight of the left engine ablaze caused panic and mayhem aboard the flight but the pilot handled the situation well.
“Last night around 20 minutes into the flight, the left engine caught fire. The passengers saw the engine fire and soon everyone was screaming. But the pilot then turned off the engine and flew the plane on one engine and handled the situation very well,” Cabral said.
“The plane was brought back to Goa and we were accommodated on the next flight to Delhi at 12:40 am,” Cabral said adding that he finally reached Delhi at 4 am.
“Not everyone made the next flight and some passengers opted for a later flight,” he added.
Cabral was headed to Delhi for a meeting along with the Director of Agriculture as well as some members of his official staff when the incident occurred.
The airline, however, “ strongly refuted” the incident. “We strongly refute the occurrence of any fire in the engine of flight 6E-336 from Goa to Delhi on Sept 29. However, the cause of the incident is not known yet and is currently under investigation”, IndiGo said in a statement, reported news agency ANI.
