Budget airline GoAir on Sunday said one of its Bengaluru-Pune flights had suffered a technical glitch mid-air and it returned safely to Bengaluru as is the standard operating procedure in such cases.
An airline spokesperson said there were around 169 passengers on board on Saturday's disrupted flight, who have now been all accommodated on alternate flights.
"Flight G8-283 BLR-PNQ suffered a technical glitch. As a standard operating procedure the captain returned back to Bengaluru. Post landing, all passengers were cared for and accommodated on alternate flights," a Go Air statement said.
The pilots reportedly got a warning mid-flight about vibration in one of the engines followed by oil chip detection alarm going off, which led to its shutdown eventually.
"GoAir sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to its passengers. GoAir is committed to the highest degree of safety of passengers and its own crew members and the crew operated within the established guidelines to provide for safe travel," it added.
The airline spokesperson said that the flight in question was an Airbus A320 neo plane fitted with Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engines.
Indian aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has grounded several A320 neo planes with P&W engines that were being operated by low-cost carriers IndiGo and GoAir.
This incident comes just a week after Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu had sought a report from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the grounding of the A320 neo planes.
Currently, there are 60 A320 neo planes with P&W engines operating in India. Out of these, 41 are with IndiGo and 19 with GoAir.
With IANS inputs