Delhi bound SpiceJet plane catches fire mid air; all 185 passengers safe

Patna: A Delhi-bound Spice Jet aircraft made an emergency landing at Patna airport after there were reports of a technical glitch which prompted fire inside the plane. All the passengers were safely rescued. “The Delhi-bound flight had returned to Patna airport after locals noticed a fire in the aircraft and informed district and airport officials. All 185 passengers were safely deboarded. The reason is a technical glitch, engineering team analysing further,” Chandrashekhar Singh, Patna District Magistrate told media persons. Patna Airport Director also said, “SpiceJet flight from Patna to Delhi was reported to have fire in one engine. The flight landed safely, and all 183 passengers and two infants have deboarded safely.”

#WATCH Patna-Delhi SpiceJet flight safely lands at Patna airport after catching fire mid-air, all 185 passengers safe#Bihar pic.twitter.com/vpnoXXxv3m

— ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2022

However, DGCA informed that the flight returned back after “bird hit” and due to one engine shut in the air, all on-board passengers safe. The fire in the plane was noticed when the aircraft was between Khagaul and Phulwarisharif, which is 2 nautical miles from the Patna airport. Bird hits are common as there is an open abattoir near the Patna airport, which attracts birds. The issue has been raised during several environment committee meetings with the Bihar government for the past several years, but nothing much has been done, said airlines officials. Local residents, living near the airport in Pulwarisharif, said they heard a loud sound after which they noticed smoke billowing from one of the engines of the aircraft. SpiceJet station manager Syed Hassan and Patna airport director Anchal Prakash did not respond to calls. The Patna airport caters to 84 aircraft movement in a day and all flights, especially to metros, including Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai are full due to the recent cancellation of trains due to protests over the Centre’s Agnipath scheme for defence recruitment. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.