An Air India Express Bagdogra-Delhi flight made an emergency landing at Lucknow airport after its pilot called “Mayday” following a smoke alarm on the plane. The flight made an emergency landing at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, sources told PTI on Tuesday, March 31.
The flight (IX1523), operated by an Airbus A320, was diverted to Lucknow on Monday evening. The pilot issued a “Mayday” call – an internationally recognized emergency signal used in life-threatening emergencies – after the crew detected smoke in the avionics – avionics – compartment.
The incident happened on Monday evening around 5.18pm. Sources said the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Lucknow was alerted to the emergency situation on the Bagdogra-Delhi flight. The plane landed safely at Lucknow airport.
As many as 148 people, including six crew members, were on board the Bagdogra-Delhi flight. All passengers were safely evacuated after landing.
Following the incident, the aircraft was declared “Aircraft on Ground” (AOG), a technical term indicating that the aircraft was grounded due to a fault requiring immediate inspection and repair before it could fly again.
Passengers were accommodated on replacement flights to their final destination.
Some passengers were offered full refunds, while others were given hotel accommodation and rebooked on other flights, the sources said.
The aircraft remains parked at the Lucknow airport.
Earlier on March 16, an Air India flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to Ireland’s Shannon Airport after a technical fault with the flight was suspected. An Air India spokesman said the flight landed at Shannon Airport and all passengers and crew members were safe.
“Flight AI102 operating from New York (JFK) to Delhi on March 15 made a precautionary diversion to Shannon, Ireland following a suspected technical problem. The aircraft landed safely at Shannon Airport at 04:30 local time and all passengers and crew are safe,” the spokeswoman said.
A few days before this incident, an Air India Express Boeing 737 MAX carrying 138 passengers, including crew members, made a hard landing at Phuket Airport and its two nose wheels separated. All passengers were safely disembarked and no injuries were reported.
“Bow wheels have been installed on the aircraft involved in the incident at Phuket Airport, allowing normal airport operations to resume,” an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement.
