An IndiGo flight made an emergency landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening after smoke was seen in the cockpit. A preliminary investigation revealed that an exhaust fan in the plane's air conditioning system may have malfunctioned.
The airlines said that the A320neo aircraft, which was travelling from Delhi to Hyderabad, has been grounded temporarily as a probe was ongoing to ascertain the reason for the mishap.
"In relation to our flight 6E 6679 (NEO) from Delhi-Hyderabad, the pilots perceived signs of smoke in the cockpit during descent and as a measure of caution, declared emergency to expedite landing. The root cause of this issue has been identified as the malfunctioning of an air conditioning system's exhaust fan. The component will be replaced and the aircraft will be back in operation shortly," the airline said in a statement.
According to reports, the pilot first noticed the smoke after he made an announcement about the aircraft landing in Hyderabad. Air traffic control was immediately alerted and a fire engine, medical personnel and other experts were on standby as the aircraft began its descent. However, there was no untoward incident during the landing and the passengers were evacuated safely. The airline's engineering staff immediately rushed in to check on the smoke inside the cockpit.
Just earlier this week, a Trujet flight was forced to return to the Hyderabad airport after take-off after it was found that fuel was leaking from the right propeller of the aircraft which was on its way to Chennai.
The flight managed to land safely and none of the passengers were injured.
In October last year, an Indigo flight scheduled to fly to Goa, had a close shave at the Hyderabad airport, as the pilot hit the brakes after spotting a vehicle in proximity, while taking off. No injuries were reported in the incident.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had launched an investigation into the incident at the time.