Fact Check: SpiceJet Emergency Landing: ‘Major Tragedy Averted…’, ‘People Spotted The Fire…’

New Delhi: Media reports have variously described the news in which a SpiceJet aircraft, carrying 185 passengers, made an emergency landing in Patna on Sunday soon after takeoff because of a fire onboard. Let’s do a fact-check:

REPORTED: As is typical with aviation reporting, many reports said “a major tragedy was averted…”

Fact is, pilots are trained to deal with all types of midair emergencies, including engine fire that led to the emergency landing by the SpiceJet aircraft. Typically, the affected engine is shut down, the engine’s fire extinguishers deployed and the crew tries to land as quickly as possible. Modern jets are capable of flying safely on one engine.

REPORTED: People on the ground spotted the fire…

Modern jets have fire alarms/warning lights in the cockpit to warn the crew of a fire onboard. In Sunday’s fire, in one video shared by a news channel, flames leaving the left engine are visible from the cabin. Although passengers and cabin crew would have spotted it, the pilots must have already been aware of it.

Many people on the ground also probably saw the flames.

But it is unlikely that “local people on the ground were the first to spot the fire and raise alarm”. While today’s fire was visible, many onboard fires may not be visible immediately such as fires in cargo holds but pilots are warned of all types of fire onboard by cockpit warnings/indications.

REPORTED: Wing on fire…

The wing was not on fire. The aircraft’s left engine caught fire after a bird ingestion during takeoff. “Cockpit crew of Patna-Delhi SpiceJet flight after take-off during rotation suspected bird hit on engine no. 1. As a precautionary measure, the flight captain shut down the affected engine and returned to Patna. Post-flight inspection shows bird hit with three fan blades damaged,” said a Spicejet spokesperson.

REPORTED: Aircraft continued to climb after bird hit…

That is probably part of procedure. If a bird hit occurs after an aircraft has attained rotation speed (V1, when the aircraft leaves the runway), usually the crew continues the takeoff because available runway length is not enough to stop the aircraft, deals with the emergency and comes back to land.