Indian commercial jet makes safe landing after engine fire
A New Delhi-bound flight carrying 185 passengers made an emergency landing on Sunday in the eastern Indian city of Patna, after its left engine caught fire while in flight, officials said.
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The passengers aboard the domestic flight, operated by commercial carrier SpiceJet, were evacuated safely once the pilot returned to Patna airport shortly after take-off.
"The flight returned to Patna airport after locals (on the ground) noticed a fire on the left wing of the aircraft and informed airport officials," district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told reporters.
"All 185 passengers were safely deboarded. Reason for the fire is a technical glitch. The engineering team is analysing," Singh added.
A passenger told reporters that there was a lot of noise heard on board the plane in the first 15 minutes after take-off.
"The pilot announced there was some problem and that we would be going back to Patna.... it was quite scary," said Pacifica, who gave only one name.
A bird hitting the engine may have sparked the fire, local news broadcaster NDTV quoted aviation sources as saying.
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The no-frills SpiceJet airline has been in the news in recent weeks, with aviation authorities imposing a fine of one million Indian rupees (about 12,830 US dollars) for training its Boeing 737 MAX pilots on a faulty simulator.
In April, authorities barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating that aircraft, saying they were not properly trained, according to local media reports.
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© Agence France-Presse
Source: AFP
