The falling standards of IndiGo once again came to the fore as at least 177 passengers and seven crew members had only the almighty to thank after a near-death experience on Friday.
The incident happened when a fire broke out in the engine of a Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight – 6E 2131 – at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi during the take-off.
A video of the incident, shot by a passenger from inside the flight, also surfaced on social media in which the passengers could be heard talking about the fire.
Delhi-Bangalore @IndiGo6E flight 6E2131 grounded after engine caught fire at the time of take off. Nobody was hurt in the incident. The shocking footage was shared by a passenger. #Indigo #indigoflight pic.twitter.com/mEBf8Xtu3p
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) October 28, 2022
“Today at 22.08 hours, the IGIA Control Room received a call from the CISF Control Room regarding a fire problem in the engine of Flight No. 6E 2131 going from Delhi to Bengaluru,” the Delhi Police stated.
The flight was carrying 177 passengers and seven crew members. The plane had just started on the runway for take-off (when passengers spotted the fire in the engine). At the same time, it was stopped and all the passengers were safely taken out,” the police added.
Showing little concern about the safety of the passengers, IndiGo tried to brush off the incident as a technical issue.
“An aircraft operating flight 6E2131 from Delhi to Bangalore experienced a technical issue while on the take-off roll. Immediately after that, the pilot aborted the take-off and the aircraft returned to the bay,” the company said in a statement.
“All passengers and crew are safe, and an alternate aircraft is being arranged to operate the flight. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers,” it added.
It was not the first time that passengers travelling on an IndiGo aircraft had to face a tough time. In fact, such were the falling standards of the company that this was the fifth such incident in two months when the lives of IndiGo passengers were in danger.
On September 16, 2022, an IndiGo aircraft from Indore to Kanpur was grounded owing to a technical issue. On September 5, 2022, a Mumbai-bound IndiGo flight from Bhopal was grounded after take-off due to a technical snag. The flight was carrying 183 passengers.
On September 2, an IndiGo airbus from Delhi to Udaipur had to return to Delhi due to a technical snag. On August 23, an engine of a Mumbai-bound IndiGo aircraft developed a technical snag at Goa airport. This flight was carrying 187 passengers.