How power bank forced Chennai bound IndiGo flight to divert to Hyderabad

A power bank stored in the overhead bin of a Chennai-bound IndiGo aircraft caught fire on Sunday, prompting the flight to divert to Hyderabad, where it landed safely. The aircraft was operating flight 6E 6115 from Delhi to Chennai. About 180 passengers and seven crew members were on board at the time of the incident.

IndiGo said smoke was detected from the passenger’s personal electronic device, after which the crew brought the situation under control and the pilots diverted the flight to Hyderabad, where it landed safely. The airline said it has arranged a replacement aircraft to carry passengers to Chennai

“IndiGo flight 6E 6115, operating from Delhi to Chennai on 11 October 2026, was diverted to Hyderabad after smoke was detected from a customer’s personal electronic device. Cabin crew responded immediately and the situation was brought under control,” IndiGo said in a statement.

“In accordance with established protocols, the pilots diverted the flight and landed safely at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad,” it added.

What did the viral video show?

A video of the incident, recorded by a passenger on a mobile phone, has surfaced on social media. Footage shows passengers trying to put out the flames using their bags to suffocate the fire.

Similar incidents

An IndiGo flight from Agartala to Delhi was diverted to Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport on Tuesday (September 15) after a smoke alarm went off in the plane’s cargo hold, PTI reported citing an official statement.

The aircraft, operating as flight 6E6504, landed safely at Lucknow airport at 18:29 with 103 passengers and six crew on board, airport authorities said, according to the news agency. No unusual incident was reported.

A similar incident involving an Air India Express flight was reported in September when a Varanasi-Delhi flight was diverted to Lucknow as a precaution after a smoke detection alarm in the cargo hold went off.

Air India Express Flight IX 1253 carrying 155 passengers took off from Varanasi on September 3 around 8 am. Shortly after takeoff, the smoke alarm in the cargo hold was activated. The pilot subsequently informed the Lucknow Air Traffic Control and requested permission to make an emergency landing.

The plane landed safely at Lucknow airport at 8:52 am. Airport staff, fire officials and technical teams rushed to the plane upon arrival. All passengers and crew were evacuated by 9:02 am.

(With inputs from news agency PTI)