‘Mayday’ call after mid-air smoke alarm forces Air India Express Bagdogra-Delhi flight to land in Lucknow

An Air India Express Bagdogra-Delhi flight made an emergency landing at Lucknow airport after its pilot issued a ‘Mayday’ call, following a smoke alarm on the plane. The flight made the emergency landing at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, PTI quoted sources as saying on Tuesday, 31 March.

The flight (IX1523), operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft, was diverted to Lucknow on Monday evening. The pilot issued a ‘Mayday’ call – an internationally recognised distress signal used in life-threatening emergencies - after the crew detected smoke in the avionics – aviation electronics – bay.

The incident happened on Monday evening around 5:18 PM. The sources said that Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Lucknow was alerted to the emergency situation on the Bagdogra-Delhi flight. The aircraft landed safely at the Lucknow airport.

As many as 148 people, which also included 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 plane has been grounded due to a fault requiring immediate inspection and repair before it can fly again.

Passengers were accommodated on alternate flights to their destination.

Some passengers were offered full refunds, while others were provided hotel accommodation and rebooked on subsequent flights, sources said.

The aircraft remains parked at the Lucknow airport.

Earlier on 16 March, an Air India flight from New York to New Delhi was diverted to Ireland's Shannon Airport after a technical issue was suspected on the flight. An Air India spokesperson said that the flight landed at Shannon Airport and all passengers and crew members were safe.

"Flight AI102 operating from New York (JFK) to Delhi on 15 March made a precautionary diversion to Shannon, Ireland, following a suspected technical issue. The aircraft landed safely at Shannon Airport at 0430 hours local time, and all passengers and crew are safe," the spokesperson said.

A few days before that incident, an Air India Express Boeing 737 MAX plane carrying 138 passengers, including crew members, made a hard landing at Phuket airport, and its two nose wheels got detached. All passengers were deboarded safely and no injuries were reported.

"The nose 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, agencies reported.

(With agency inputs)