IndiGo flight suffered engine failure: DGCA

NEW DELHI: The Bengaluru-bound IndiGo aircraft that aborted take-off at Delhi Airport on Friday night had suffered an engine failure, leading to a loud noise and reportedly a momentary fire in the affected engine’s exhaust. The crew quickly discharged a fire extinguisher bottle in engine number two that brought the situation under control. After that the Airbus A320ceo (VT-IFM) with 184 people on board (177 passengers and seven crew members) safely returned to a parking bay where passengers disembarked normally with no one hurt, said Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials.
The aircraft (6E-2131) was about to take off for Bengaluru when the pilots got a fail warning for engine number 2. “Investigation so far has revealed that an engine stall occurred, leading to a surge of airflow in the engine. Due to this surge, a momentary fire was seen in the engine exhaust,” an official said.
However, IndiGo, claimed “it was not a case of engine fire but an engine flame-out that lasted a few seconds.” A detailed probe by the regulator is on to ascertain what exactly happened and why, and preventive steps to be taken to minimise chances of such incidents recurring. The aviation ministry tweeted early on Saturday that DGCA had been “directed to look into this and furnish a report at the earliest.”
A passenger, Priyanka Kumar, shooting a take-off video, captured the moments that show one engine on fire. Tweeting from her handle, @Priyankaakumarr, she had said on Friday night: “Scary experience on Delhi runway! This was supposed to be a take-off video but this happened. IndiGo.” Clearly, the pilots’ presence of mind in taking the required steps without any delay saved the day.
IndiGo said in a statement that the aircraft “experienced a technical issue while on take-off roll, immediately after which the pilot aborted the take-off and the aircraft safely returned to the bay. All passengers and crew are safe and an alternative aircraft was arranged to operate the flight, which took off at 12.16am on Saturday. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers.”
Several airlines, including IndiGo, have dozens of their aircraft grounded as they are awaiting replacement engines which are delayed due to supply chain issues globally. The aircraft that aborted take-off on Friday could now join the scores of other planes awaiting engines or some other components for a long time.