An Air India aeroplane caught fire at the Delhi airport after landing from Hong Kong.
The auxiliary power unit (APU) of Air India 315 flight caught fire shortly after landing at the Delhi airport from Hong Kong, the airline said in a statement.
All passengers and crew in the aeroplane are safe, the airline said.
“The incident occurred while passengers had begun disembarking, and the APU was automatically shut down as per system design. There was some damage to the aircraft, however, passengers and crew members disembarked normally, and are safe. The aircraft has been grounded for further investigations and the regulator has been duly notified,” the airline further said.
The APU is a small turbine engine usually fitted in the tail section of the aeroplane. Primarily, it provides electrical power to the aircraft when its main engines are off either during boarding or maintenance and provides power to run lights, avionics, and air conditioning when the plane is on the ground. It also provides compressed air required to start the main engines of the plane at the beginning of the flight.
In emergencies, the APU can also provide back-up power in some situations.
3rd incident with Air India in 2 days
This is the third incident with Air India in the past two days.
Earlier on Monday, the Air India flight 2744 from Kochi to Mumbai went off the runway while landing in heavy rain at the Mumbai airport.
“The aircraft taxied safely to the gate, and all passengers and crew members have since disembarked. The aircraft has been grounded for checks,” the airline said.
In the second incident on Monday, a Kolkata-bound Air India aeroplane aborted the takeoff due to a technical issue at the Delhi airport.
In yet another incident on Monday, an IndiGo aeroplane from Goa made an emergency landing at Madhya Pradesh’s Indore airport after encountering a technical snag related to its landing gear.