The fire was discovered shortly before take-off at Muscat airport in Oman.
New Delhi:
An Air India Express flight to Kochi was evacuated at Muscat airport in Oman today after a fire was discovered in one of the engines shortly before take-off.
All crew and 145 passengers on board, four of them infants, were evacuated from the plane and transferred to the terminal. No injuries have been reported. “Relief flights will be organized,” announced the Director General of the General Department of Civil Aviation.
Air India Express, formerly a government carrier, is now owned by the Tata group. Billed as India’s first international low-cost airline, it mainly connects to the Middle East/West Asia, besides Southeast Asia.
Two months ago, an Air India Express plane operating from Calicut to Dubai was diverted to Muscat after observing a burning smell. No serious damage was found.
July is a hectic month for Indian airlines.
An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Vadodara was diverted to Jaipur as a precaution following unusual vibrations in the engine. Another IndiGo flight from Sharjah to Hyderabad diverted to Karachi in Pakistan after the pilot reported a technical fault with the plane. It was also a precautionary landing and all passengers were safely brought to Hyderabad on an alternative flight.
The Go First flight from Delhi to Guwahati was diverted to Jaipur after a layer of the plane’s windshield cracked mid-air. This is the third technical malfunction on a Go First aircraft within two days.
That month, the Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, held meetings with airlines and officials from his ministry and regulator to ensure better oversight.
