Over 70 passengers on board an Indigo aircraft from Tirupati had a narrow escape while one of its tyres burst while landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Wednesday night, the airline said.
"The 72 passengers plus 1 infant and 4 crew are safe. All passengers of flight 6E 7117 have disembarked and taken with luggage to arrival hall," said a statement by IndiGo.
"ATR 72 is currently in a process to be removed to the parking bay," it added.
As the tyre burst led to sparks, alert personnel of fire-fighting team rushed to the aircraft to prevent any disaster, airport sources said.
The incident occurred around 10.30 pm when the aircraft was landing on the runway. It caused panic among passengers.
YSR Congress Party legislator Roja was among the passengers. The former actress sent few visuals from the aircraft to some television channels. In the video clippings, some passengers were seen having heated argument with crew over the delay in opening the doors.
The pilot was heard advising passengers to be calm and remain seated. He assured them that there is nothing serious.
The Nagari MLA later put up a video, where the passengers can be seen in a bus, presumably heading into the airport from the runway.
“We are safe,” she says in the video.
Earlier this month, Indigo Airlines' Raipur-bound plane carrying 112 passengers returned to Hyderabad soon after take-off due to a "technical glitch".
An IndiGo statement in New Delhi said the incident is being investigated by its flight safety team and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
"IndiGo flight 6E 334 from Hyderabad to Raipur after take-off experienced a minor technical glitch/over limit EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) with its engine 1," it said.
After carrying out the standard operating procedures, the flight crew landed the A320-232 aircraft safely back at Hyderabad and passengers were flown in another aircraft.
IndiGo and GoAir cancelled 48 flights on a single day earlier this month, as almost a third of their A320 Neo aircraft fleet remained grounded following a safety directive by DGCA. Of these flights, 42 are of IndiGo and six belong to GoAir.
Citing safety concerns, the aviation industry regulator asked IndiGo and GoAir to ground a total of 11 A320neo aircraft fitted with Pratt & Whitney 1100 engines.
With this, all the A320neo aircraft with PW1100 engines beyond serial number 450 have been taken off operation in India.
IANS inputs