Jaipur-bound Indigo flight makes emergency landing at Varanasi after false smoke alarm

A Jaipur-bound Indigo flight made an emergency landing at the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) International Airport in Varanasi on Thursday night, after the pilot suspected smoke emanating from its cargo section. However, it turned out to be a false alarm.

Airport sources said that soon after the plane left the Kolkata airport for Jaipur, the pilot reportedly detected smoke coming out of its cargo section around 10.30 pm. He immediately asked the air traffic control unit in Varanasi for permission to make an emergency landing.

The airport authorities responded in the positive and sounded the alert.

Airport director Anil Kumar Rai said the plane’s automatic indication system brought the alleged incident to the pilot’s notice. After the CISF and fire brigade personnel had offloaded all the 84 passengers as well as their luggage, engineers thoroughly examined the plane. Everything was found to be in order.

Rai said the flight then left for Jaipur at 1.30 am. The passengers’ luggage was thoroughly checked before being sent to the Rajasthan capital by another plane.

First Published: Aug 31, 2018 20:30 IST