A Chennai-Kuwait IndiGo 1751 flight made an emergency landing at the Chennai International Airport on Friday, less than an hour after its departure. The pilots had noticed that the smoke alarm had gone off in the cargo hold of the flight, and decided to turn around immediately. However, upon landing and inspection, it turned out to be a false alarm, state media reports.
The incident took place soon after the flight took off from Chennai at its scheduled departure time of 12.40 am on Friday but was made to turn around as soon as the smoke alarm from the flight’s cargo area was activated.
The aircraft was then safely landed by the pilots at 1.35 am at Chennai International Airport. Fire engines followed the aircraft after landing to ensure safety. Passengers were transferred to a different aircraft that then took off for Kuwait at 4.25 am. The three-and-a-half-hour flight has since landed safely.
Friday’s incident has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s regulatory body.
In August this year, a Bengaluru-Chennai IndiGo flight opted for a go-around after flying as low as 500 feet above the ground near the Chennai airport’s runway. In aviation, a go-around refers to an aborted landing of an aircraft on its final approach to the runway. The aircraft reportedly flew very low over the Guindy-end of the main runway before climbing up for a go-around. A passenger, who was on the flight, told the Times of India that the pilot announced that they would land in 10 minutes and did not specify the cause for the delay.
In May, a Singapore-bound flight of Scoot Airways made an emergency landing in Chennai airport after the pilot detected smoke in the aircraft. The flight, originating from Trichy, with 161 passengers and crew on-board, landed at Chennai airport in the wee hours, after smoke emanated from the aircraft’s cargo hold.