Delhi-bound IndiGo flight suffers bird hit, returns; third incident in a day

In another incident, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 with about 185 people on board passengers made an emergency landing on Sunday afternoon after one of the engines caught fire in a suspected bird hit.

A Delhi-bound IndiGo flight from Guwahati returned to Guwahati airport due to a suspected bird hit after the takeoff on Sunday.

All passengers onboard the IndiGo flight were accommodated on another flight to Delhi and the aircraft was inspected. (AP File Photo)

All passengers were accommodated on another flight to Delhi and the aircraft was inspected.

"IndiGo Airbus A320neo (VT-ITB) operating flight 6E 6394 from Guwahati-Delhi returned to Guwahati airport, due to a suspected bird hit after takeoff. All passengers were accommodated on another flight to Delhi. The aircraft is being held on the ground for necessary inspections," the IndiGo said in a statement.

This was a third such incident in a day when a flight made an emergency landing.

Earlier on Sunday evening, a Jabalpur-bound SpiceJet flight landed back at the Delhi Airport after it failed to regain the cabin pressure differential even after attaining a height of 6,000 feet.

According to a statement by the spokesperson of the airline, the cabin pressure differential was unable to be built up as the altitude of the cabin rose from the ground.

Earlier, in another incident concerning the airline, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 with about 185 people on board passengers returned safely to Patna soon after an emergency landing on Sunday afternoon following the reports of a fire in one of the engines.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials said that the plane (VT-SYZ), prima facie, was involved in air turnback as the cabin crew informed PIC about sparks coming out of the engine.

During the rotation, the cockpit crew suspected a bird hit on the engine. Later, the crew did not observe any abnormality and the flight resumed further climb.

"The flight returned back after a bird hit and due to one engine shut in the air, all on-board passengers safe," the officials added.

On Sunday afternoon, a Delhi-bound Spice Jet aircraft made an emergency landing at Patna airport after there were reports of a technical glitch which prompted fire inside the plane. All the passengers were safely rescued.

"The Delhi-bound flight had returned to Patna airport after locals noticed a fire in the aircraft and informed district and airport officials. All 185 passengers were safely deboarded. The reason is a technical glitch, engineering team analysing further," said Chandrashekhar Singh, Patna District Magistrate told media persons.