Bengaluru-bound IndiGo plane turns back after engine failure minutes into flight

A Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight made an emergency landing minutes after takeoff on Friday following an engine failure. A full emergency was declared at a runway of Kolkata airport following the incident. No fire or spark was reported and passengers disembarked safely from the flight.

According to officials, flight 6E0573 from Kolkata to Bangalore had become airborne at 10.36 pm on Friday. Both the runways at NSCBI airport were handed over to the Air Traffic Control to make those available for the plane to land back safely and the carrier eventually made an emergency landing at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport at 10.53 pm. The full emergency declared at 10.39 pm was withdrawn at 11.08 pm.

“It was learnt that the left side engine of the aircraft failed after take-off as a result of which it had to come back to Kolkata,” a spokesperson told PTI.

The development comes exactly a week after another IndiGo flight (from Bengaluru to Patna) was forced to make an emergency landing at the Nagpur airport after a passenger became critically ill. Medical officials said that the passenger had exhibited unusual symptoms including intense shaking, loss of consciousness and body stiffness mid-flight.

He was admitted to the KIMS-Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur upon landing. As per an initial medical assessment, the patient is suffering from a seizure disorder and he is being treated in the emergency department at the hospital.

In another case on August 15, a Varanasi-Mumbai Akasa Air flight with 172 passengers on board on Thursday made an emergency landing at the Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal after a passenger fell sick. The passenger was declared dead after an examination by doctors. According to officials, the flight left for Mumbai at around 6pm after mandatory inspection formalities were completed.

(With inputs from agencies)