Amritsar-bound Vistara flight develops technical snag, returns to Delhi airport

Airline sources said the glitch was detected within half an hour of the flight taking off and the pilot immediately requested that the flight be granted priority landing at the Delhi airport

An Amritsar-bound Vistara flight, carrying 146 passengers, was forced to return to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Thursday morning after the pilot detected a snag on the aircraft.

Vistara said upon landing, all passengers were de-boarded and an alternate flight arranged for them to continue their journey. (Representative image/HT Archive)

Airline sources said the glitch was detected within half an hour of the flight taking off and the pilot immediately requested that the flight be granted priority landing at the Delhi airport. A call was also received by the Delhi Police at 10:15am about the flight being turned around for emergency landing, and the fire brigade was also put on standby as a precautionary measure.

“The flight finally landed on runway 28/10, where six fire engines were standing on alert. There was no damage to the aircraft nor was any passenger injured,” the airline official said, asking not to be named. The official, however, did not say what the glitch was.

A Vistara spokesperson later said the flight was made to return to Delhi as a precautionary measure. “A technical snag was detected on Vistara flight UK 697 operating Delhi to Amritsar on February 17, 2022. As a precautionary step, the pilots decided to turn back and landed safely at the IGI Airport,” the spokesperson said.

Vistara said upon landing, all passengers were de-boarded and an alternate flight arranged for them to continue their journey.

“Another aircraft was immediately arranged to fly the passengers to Amritsar and that took off at 1.30pm, after a technical inspection. Inconvenience to passengers is deeply regretted. Safety of our customers and staff is our top priority.” the spokesperson added.