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Fire on Patna-Delhi SpiceJet flight, plane makes emergency landing
The Delhi-bound SpiceJet flight was hit by a bird, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. SpiceJet too has confirmed the bird attack and said the pilot shut down the affected engine and decided to return to Patna.
A Patna-Delhi SpiceJet flight (Boeing 737-800) made an emergency landing soon after take-off on Sunday as a fire was reported at the plane. According to reports, the engine of the plane caught fire and was first noticed by local people. The DGCA said the plane was hit by a bird and one engine got shut. Over 180 passengers were on board and there has been no report of any injury. Watch | Smoke from Delhi-Patna SpiceJet flight as it makes emergency landing
Patna DM Chandrashekhar Singh said, “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. Reason for the fire is a technical glitch. The engineering team is analysing,” Singh said.
Spicejet spokesperson said after the take-off when the flight was rotating, the cockpit crew suspected that a bird hit the engine. “As a precautionary measure and as per SOP, the Captain shut down the affected engine and decided to return to Patna. The aircraft landed safely in Patna and passengers were safely deboarded,” it said.
A video of the SpiceJet plane, posted by news agency ANI, shows passengers deboarding the flight at the runway. Videos sourced from local people show the plane with a halo of smoke.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to Twitter immediately after the report came and said this is playing with the lives of passengers. “Repeatedly been raising this with the minister, with the aviation secretary. Don’t know when they will rise to the occasion and avoid a major mishap waiting to happen,” Chaturvedi tweeted.
The airline, of late, has been at the centre of many security-related incidents. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation last month imposed a fine of ₹10 lakh on SpiceJet for training its Boeing 737 Max aircraft's pilots on a faulty simulator as it could have adversely impacted flight safety.
In April, the DGCA had barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating the Max aircraft after finding them not properly trained.
