An Air India flight, heading to New Delhi from Vishakhapatnam on Monday made an emergency landing at Nagpur airport, following a suspected technical snag. The flight safely landed at Nagpur and the plane was taken to the hangar for repairs. All the passengers were de-boarded safely.
Flight AI 425, coming from Vishakhapatnam, with 177 passengers on board, was diverted to Nagpur airport following a “priority landing” request to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) by the pilots.
The flight took off from the Vishakhapatnam airport on time at around 9 am on Monday. After 90 minutes in the air, the pilots noticed unusual fluctuations in the engine’s functions panel when they contacted the nearest airport.
The ATC then kept the other flights on hold and the plane, an Airbus 321 aircraft, landed on the runway with fire engines and emergency crews on standby.
The incident took place at around 10.30 am and the airline had dispatched another aircraft from New Delhi to ferry the passengers for their onward journey. The passengers were given food and other refreshments by the airline staff at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.
Confirming the development, Nagpur airport director A.K.
Verma said the flight landed safely and all emergency protocols were followed.
“The flight landed in the morning at around 10.30 am the airline’s ground staff later inspected the plane. The relief flight took off around 2 pm. I am, however, not aware of the nature of the technical problem,” said Mr Verma.
An airline source said that it was a “normal” landing and the decision to divert was taken keeping in mind passenger safety.