IndiGo’s Hyd-bound flight from Dubai diverted to Pak
Airline carrier IndiGo’s Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Pakistan’s Karachi as a precautionary measure on Sunday after pilots found out a defect in one of the engines, officials said.
In a statement about Sunday’s incident, IndiGo said its flight 6E-1406, operating from Sharjah to Hyderabad, was diverted to Karachi.
“The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi. An additional flight is being sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad,” IndiGo said in the statement.
On July 14, IndiGo’s DelhiVadodara flight was diverted to Jaipur out of precaution as vibrations were observed in the engines of the aircraft for a second.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating both the incidents, officials noted.
Meanwhile, an alive bird was found in the cockpit of Air India Express’ Bahrain-Kochi flight on July 15, DGCA officials said on Sunday. The bird was found in the glove compartment on co-pilot’s side when the plane was at 37,000 feet altitude, the officials noted.
The plane landed safely in Kochi, they said. The aviation watchdog is investigating the incident, they said.
Prima facie, it looks like there was a ground handling lapse at a foreign station, the officials said while talking about the incident.
In another incident, Air India Express’s Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted on July 16 to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in cabin mid-air.
Air India Express did not respond to new agency PTI’s requests for statements regarding the two aforementioned incidents.
AI EXPRESS PLANE FROM CALICUT
WAS DIVERTED TO MUSCAT, WHILE A INDIGO’S SHARJAHHYDERABAD PLANE WAS DIVERTED TO KARACHI
Two international flights by Indian carriers — one by IndiGo and the other of Air India Express — diverted to a third country following suspected snags.
An AI Express Boeing 737 (VT-AXX) took off from Calicut at 11.06pm on Saturday as IX-355 for Dubai. During cruise, burning smell was observed in the cabin. The crew checked but there was no smoke or fire.
The pilots decided to divert to Muscat where it landed safely.
IndiGo’s Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precaution on Sunday after pilots observed defect in one of the engines, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said.
On July 14, IndiGo’s Delhi-Vadodara flight was diverted to Jaipur out of precaution as vibrations were observed in the engines of the aircraft for a second. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating both the incidents, officials noted.
In a statement about Sunday’s incident, IndiGo said its flight 6E-1406, operating from Sharjah to Hyderabad, was diverted to Karachi.
“The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi. An additional flight is being sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad,” it added.
IndiGo’s competitor SpiceJet is presently under regulatory scanner. On July 6, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in its aircraft since June 19.
One of the incidents happened on July 5 when SpiceJet’s DelhiDubai flight was diverted to Karachi as the fuel indicator started malfunctioning. The aviation regulator had on July 6 said SpiceJet had “failed” to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services, and gave it three weeks to send a response to the notice. An official of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) confirmed that an IndiGo flight has landed at the Karachi airport.
“All the passengers have been taken care off properly and provided refreshments after they were moved to the transit lounge,” he said.
The PCAA official said the engineering crew had found faults in the engine number two of the IndiGo plane.
“The plane was not cleared for flight so the Indian carrier has sent an alternate aircraft,” he said.