New Delhi: An Air India flight to Indore returned to the Delhi airport on Sunday morning after an engine fire alarm. The A320 neo aircraft made an emergency landing, with its right engine shut down, officials confirmed.
Flight AI2913 was airborne for over 30 minutes when the pilot received a “fire indication” in the right engine of the aircraft. The right engine was shut down and the aircraft landed back safely at Delhi around 6.15 am with over 90 passengers on board.
The aircraft has been grounded for inspection, officials said. Another plane was arranged for the passengers, who have reached Indore safely. This flight took off from Delhi at 9 am and reached Indore at 10.26 am without further event.
“Flight AI2913, operating from Delhi to Indore on August 31, returned to Delhi shortly after take off, as the cockpit crew received a fire indication for the right engine,” Air India said in a statement without divulging further details.
“Following standard procedure, the cockpit crew elected to shut down the engine and returned to Delhi where the flight landed safely,” the statement added.
Air safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been duly informed about the incident, the airline said.
Sources have said that there was no physical evidence of a fire in the engine. However, it is Standard Operating Procedure to shut down and engine if the fire indicator starts flashing.
“Passengers were not at a risk. Modern aircraft can fly with just one good engine. Even if the indicator had gone off later, the pilots could have diverted to some other airport quite easily,” a senior pilot said.
