In a series of malfunctions, three flights from India – two of them belonging to SpiceJet airlines – made unprecedented landings in the span of a day. Passengers onboard a Delhi-Dubai SpiceJet flight, which made a precautionary landing in Karachi, were safely transferred to a replacement flight that finally took off for Dubai late on Tuesday evening.
The other two flights – SpiceJet and Go First – were both flying on domestic routes when they suffered technical snags in separate incidents.
Here's what happened in all three flights:
SpiceJet Delhi-Dubai flight (SG-11)
The Dubai-bound SpiceJet flight, carrying around 150 passengers, took off from Delhi this morning. It then made an unscheduled landing in Pakistan's Karachi due to a technical fault.
It was later revealed by the airline that the aircraft had to take the precautionary step due to a malfunctioning fuel indicator light. “...SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi - Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked,” a spokesperson said.
SpiceJet Kandla-Mumbai flight (SG 3324)
{{/usCountry}}SpiceJet Kandla-Mumbai flight (SG 3324)
{{/usCountry}}A SpiceJet flight from Kandla in Gujarat escaped a mishap after the outer pane of a windshield cracked midair on Tuesday. The aircraft, however, landed safely in Mumbai.
“On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet Q400 aircraft was operating SG 3324 (Kandla - Mumbai). During cruise at FL230, P2 side windshield outer pane cracked. Pressurisation was observed to be normal. The aircraft landed safely in Mumbai,” a SpiceJet spokesperson had said.
This was the seventh incident of technical malfunction the budget airline suffered in the last 17 days.
Go First Delhi-Patna flight (G8-131)
Shortly after, a third incident took place when a Patna-bound Go First flight from Delhi had to return to the national capital because it developed a technical snag. The flight, G8-131, was scheduled to reach the Bihar capital around 1:50pm but the pilot refused to land and made an about turn.
Passengers were then transferred onto another flight which left for the Bihar capital and reached around 6pm. It is still unclear as to what caused the technical fault in the aircraft.
(With inputs from bureau, agencies)