IndiGo flight makes emergency landing in Mumbai after pilot suspects problems in engine

An Airbus 320neo aircraft, operated by IndiGo on the Chandigarh-Mumbai route, made an emergency landing at the city airport on Friday evening, after the pilot suspected problems in one of the engines.

Although the airline said flight 6E-463 made a “priority landing” — a lower form of emergency in which the pilot contacts the Air Traffic Control (ATC) for early landing as a precautionary step — the Mumbai airport said it was an “emergency landing”.

The flight, which was carrying around 144 passengers, landed at the Mumbai airport at 4.44pm.

HT had recently reported that the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), suspended three IndiGo pilots and two of its engineers for not reporting incidents of engine vibrations in Airbus 320s, fitted with Pratt & Whitney’s Neo engines.

Three incidents, dating back to March, came to light after the DGCA carried out an audit of the airline between April 15 and April 18.

Late in August, the regulator had called for a meeting of executives from IndiGo and GoAir, following more reports of engine vibrations.

An IndiGo spokesperson said, “Upon descent of flight 6E-463 from Chandigarh to Mumbai, the captain received a precautionary warning for engine no. 1 and following necessary SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), he asked for a priority landing in Mumbai. There was no in-flight shut down and no emergency was declared. The aircraft proceeded to the planned bay and passengers disembarked normally. In any event, the aircraft is currently being checked by the maintenance team.”

Airport operator Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL), however, said a full emergency was declared for IndiGo flight 463 at 4:28pm. A MIAL spokesperson said, “The IndiGo airline’s flight landed safely at 16.44 hours on RWY 27 and was fully parked. Following which, the full emergency was withdrawn at 16.47 hours.”

Sources in the know of the incident claimed that the A320neo aircraft was delivered to the airline early this year. “The aircraft with registration VT-IJC that had an engine-related emergency, was delivered to IndiGo in May 2019,” said a Delhi-based official, on condition of anonymity.

The DGCA had then stated that even the failure of one of the engines (aircraft has two engines) may not necessarily be life-threatening, because the other engine in an aircraft can operate, but they have to be instantly brought to their notice.