A Pune-bound GoAir flight that took off from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Saturday morning turned back and made an emergency landing following a snag in the engine. Flight G8-283 had 169 passengers on board.
GoAir, in a statement to the media, attributed the incident to a technical glitch. “As standard operating procedure, the captain returned to Bengaluru. Post-landing, all passengers were cared for and accommodated on alternate flights. GoAir sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to its passengers,” read the statement.
Several passengers took to Twitter to congratulate the pilots on their quick thinking. Anil Peter Monteiro tweeted: “Thanks to pilots flying GoAir G283 from Bengaluru to Pune. Quickly detected a snag mid-air and got us back to base safe.”
Mohit Kapoor, another passenger, tweeted: “Kudos to all the pilots, crew and passengers for being calm. Landing was just beautiful. Thanks to the pilots for landing safely in that tense moment.”
Another passenger tweeted to Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu demanding a thorough investigation into the incident.
A senior official at the BIAL said, “We have sent the incident report to DGCA, Airport Authority of India and others. Like any other emergency landing, an investigation will follow on this incident as well. Only after the probe will the reason for the snag be known.”