Rajkot: An IndiGo flight from Dubai to Mumbai was diverted to Gujarat’s Rajkot on Monday after the crew reported smoke in the aircraft’s cargo hold.
Flight 6E 1452, carrying 194 passengers, landed safely, and everyone on board disembarked without incident, PTI reported.
“Flight IGO 1452 from Dubai to Mumbai, with 194 persons on board, was diverted to Rajkot after smoke was detected in the cargo hold area” of the aircraft,” the airport management said in a statement.
Rajkot airport declared an emergency at 2.45 pm after authorities received an alert from the aircraft. The flight landed safely at 3.27 pm, officials said.
After all 194 passengers were evacuated safely, technical teams began inspecting the aircraft to determine what triggered the smoke alert.
Airport Police Station Inspector K P Taretiya said that the pilot had informed Air Traffic Control (ATC) about suspected smoke in the cargo hold and requested permission for an emergency landing at Rajkot.
“The pilot suspected smoke inside the aircraft and, as a precautionary measure, made an emergency landing at the Rajkot airport. The aircraft landed safely,” Taretiya said.
All passengers safely disembarked and were taken to a designated area within the airport terminal, he added.
“The airline’s technical team has reached the airport and is inspecting the aircraft. There was no fire in the aircraft,” the officer said.
In May this year, passengers on a Hyderabad-Chandigarh IndiGo flight had to be evacuated after a passenger’s power bank caught fire, causing smoke to spread through the cabin.
That aircraft was also carrying 198 passengers and six crew members. It had already landed at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport and was taxiing towards the parking bay when the crew noticed the fire.
It was quickly extinguished by the cabin crew, but the smoke led to an emergency evacuation using inflatable slides. One passenger suffered minor injuries during the evacuation, while all others exited the aircraft safely.
IndiGo has, meanwhile, temporarily suspended flights to six international destinations, including Hong Kong and Krabi, as part of a broader network optimisation strategy.
It had suspended services to Langkawi, Krabi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong and Shanghai from July 1, while flights to Siem Reap were suspended from July 3 until September 30, the airline had said in a statement.
The decision had been taken due to traditionally softer demand in the upcoming quarter and an exceptionally challenging cost environment, IndiGo said, as reported by Mint.
Bookings for all affected routes would resume from October 1, the airline said, subject to an improvement in operating conditions. It remained prepared to restore these services earlier than scheduled if the situation improved, IndiGo said.
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