Emergency landing after smoke in plane triggers scare in air

KOLKATA: "Mayday! Mayday!" was the terse voice that crackled on the VHF radio at the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Kolkata. It was Monday night, 10.33pm to be exact, an hour when the flurry of evening flights begins to slacken a wee bit, affording controllers time to catch their breath. It was no different on Monday night when the distress call rang out in the controller's headset, making him jump out of his seat.





In the plane - a Jaipur-Kolkata IndiGo Airbus A320neo aircraft - there was smoke in the cockpit. A few moments ago, the head stewardess had informed the captain about smoke in the passenger cabin. An alarm also indicated smoke, possibly a fire. The captain had no option but to make the distress call that every pilot dreads.

The 'Mayday!' triggered a chain of events. The controller informed the senior who relayed it to emergency agencies - fire services and ambulance. At the same time, the controller handed the other flights over to a fellow controller and began clearing the path to bring flight 6E 237 into Kolkata airport at the earliest.

Meanwhile, 20,000 ft above the ground, the situation was getting pretty desperate, as smoke filled the passenger cabin of the plane. The cabin crew tried its best to keep passengers calm. "We will be landing very soon," a crew member told passengers, urging them to stay in their seats.

A video taken by a flier that went viral showed terrifying images of the cabin completely engulfed in smoke. An infant travelling in the rear of the aircraft wailed as it found difficult to breathe the acrid air. An air-hostess with a standby oxygen cylinder was seen waiting in attendance.

Back on the ground, bowsers raced to the emergency points next to the runway to pursue the plane on touchdown and spray it with foam should a fire be detected. An ambulance was ready to rush any injured passenger to hospital should the need arise.

At the ATC tower, the controller guiding the flight into land was tense. So were airline staff waiting on the ground. When the plane approached and then touched down smoothly at 10.44pm, they drew their breath and swung into action. The bowsers pursued the plane as it taxied down. An isolation bay had been designated for the aircraft to park for quick evacuation of passengers.

"If there is a fire on board, time is of essence. An aircraft carries a large amount of fuel and can burst into flames. So it is emergent that the passengers are quickly offloaded," an aviation industry expert explained.

While the ground crew rushed to attach a ladder to the front exit, the captain ordered the flight attendants to deploy the emergency chutes in the rear exit. All the while, cabin crew gave instructions to passengers: "Stay low, breathe shallow, cover your nose and mouth."

Once all the passengers had disembarked and been taken to safety, engineers entered the aircraft to identify the source of the smoke. But till reports last came in, IndiGo officials maintained it had not been able to find out what had caused the problem.

Industry sources, though, suspected it could be the neo engines. IndiGo has faced trouble with its brand-new fleet of A-320neo aircraft with repeated failures and technical problems with its Pratt and Whitney engines. In March this year, aviation watchdog DGCA had grounded 11 Airbus A-320neo airliners, eight of which belonged to IndiGo. "It could have been due to engine snag. Cabin air is drawn from the engine," said an expert.

An IndiGo spokesperson said its flight 6E-237 operating on Jaipur-Kolkata route made an emergency landing as a precaution at Kolkata due to suspected smoke in cabin. "The flight landed safely at Kolkata. On reaching the bay, a few passengers were evacuated via the aft exit slides; most passengers de-planed via front step ladder. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the airplane."

Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is investigating the incident. The airline has also been asked to submit preliminary report after detailed technical inspection.