A Guwahati-Chennai IndiGo flight with 168 passengers sparked a massive scare on Thursday after its pilot sounded a 'mayday' alert, before landing safely in Bengaluru's Kempegowda airport.
This comes barely a week after an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad after sounding similar 'mayday' alerts, killing 241 passengers and crew onboard, as well as about 30 people in the vicinity of the crash site.
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The IndiGo flight 6E-6764 (A321), which took off from Guwahati at 4:40 PM, had attempted to land in Chennai at around 7:45 PM.
However, the pilots were forced to ‘go around’ after the landing gear touched the runway in a procedure called a ‘balked landing’—essentially an aborted landing attempt due to an ‘unstabilised approach’, in response to the congestion at the airport, a Times of India report said, citing unnamed sources.
“The sudden and steep climb had many passengers on the edge of their seats, some visibly frightened,” a passenger explained.
A second landing was reportedly not attempted at Chennai.
“About 35 miles from Bengaluru airport, the captain made a ‘mayday’ call” (citing insufficient fuel) before landing safely at the Kempegowda airport, the report added.
“After getting the distress call, the ATC alerted the on-ground staff members who swung into action. Medical and fire services personnel were in place. The aircraft landed safely at 8:20 PM,” another source had said.
While both pilots have reportedly been taken off the roster, IndiGo has not yet acknowledged the issue with a statement.
