A full emergency was declared at Kolkata airport on Friday night after an engine of an IndiGo flight heading to Bengaluru failed mid-air. However, both runways were soon cleared, and the aircraft landed safely.
All passengers and crew members on board were unharmed.
According to The Times of India, citing airport sources, a passenger claimed to have seen flames coming from one of the engines, although there was no official confirmation from either the airline or airport authorities.
“All 173 people on board, including the crew, are safe,” an official stated.
Nilanjan Das, a passenger on the flight, told The Times of India that shortly after takeoff, he heard a strange noise and saw flames coming from one of the engines before the plane turned back towards Kolkata.
An airport official explained that the pilot of flight 6E 0573 reported an emergency engine failure just minutes after takeoff, prompting a full emergency declaration at 10:39 pm. The runway was quickly inspected and prepared, allowing the aircraft to land from either direction.
The plane safely landed on a single engine at 11:05 pm.
“An engine failure is a serious emergency, but it is not uncommon. Thankfully, the flight landed safely,” an official commented.
Similar incidents have occurred in the past:
- In June, a passenger plane traveling from Queenstown to Melbourne made an emergency landing in Invercargill, New Zealand, after one of its engines caught fire, as reported by the New Zealand fire service. News agency PTI reported that the Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 had to divert when an engine fire caused it to shut down mid-air.
- In March, a United Airlines Boeing aircraft bound for Florida made an emergency landing in Texas shortly after takeoff due to a jet engine catching fire. Video footage showed sparks coming from beneath the aircraft’s left wing near the passenger windows.
- Last year, an IndiGo flight from Patna to Delhi had to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff due to an issue with one of its engines. Anchal Prakash, the director of Patna airport, stated that three minutes after the Airbus 320 (6E 2433) took off, the flight reported one engine as inoperative, and the aircraft landed safely back at the airport.
