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SpiceJet’s Hong Kong-Delhi flight makes emergency landing at Varanasi airport
The Boeing 737 Max plane landed at 10 am after reporting a snag in its left engine, the Varanasi airport director said.
A SpiceJet flight from Hong Kong to Delhi, with over 140 passengers aboard, safely made an emergency landing at Varanasi’s Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport around 10am on Sunday after facing an engine problem, officials at the airport said.
A senior airport official said the SpiceJet flight (SG-32 HKG-DEL) had departed from Hong Kong 20 minutes behind its scheduled departure of 7.40 am and the snag in the engine was notices when the plane was flying over the Gaya airport. The pilots tried to make a landing there but could not do so due to thick fog, the official said.
The flight was then diverted to Varanasi.
SpiceJet local manager Rajesh Singh said as the plane safely landed at Varanasi. ATC and fire safety personnel were standing by for any eventuality, according to airport director AK Rai.
The passengers were sent to Delhi by another flight later, officials said.
“The flight was diverted to Varanasi after the pilots noticed low fuel supply in No. 1 engine,” a SpiceJet spokesperson said.
“Pilots followed the SoP (standard operating procedure) and landed safely in Varanasi. The passengers were deplaned normally. On inspection, a fuel control valve (a minor component) was found to have malfunctioned and is being replaced,” the spokesperson added.
