An IndiGo flight on Sunday made an emergency landing in Pakistan’s Karachi airport after the pilot observed a technical glitch, ANI reported. The incident took place a day after an Air India Express flight from Kozhikode to Dubai had to be diverted to Oman’s capital city Muscat.
The IndiGo plane was enroute from Sharjah in the United Aram Emirates to Hyderabad city.
“After the pilot of the Sharjah-Hyderabad flight observed a technical defect in the aircraft, as a precaution the aircraft was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan,” said a statement issued by the airline.
The IndiGo aircraft is being examined at the Karachi airport, according to The Indian Express.
The low-cost carrier in its statement added that an additional flight has been arranged to fly the passengers to Hyderabad.
This is the second such incident in the past two weeks when an Indian airline has made an emergency landing in Karachi.
On July 5, IndiGo’s competitor SpiceJet was forced to land its plane in Karachi after its fuel indicator malfunctioned. The Delhi to Dubai flight had over 150 passengers on board.
A day later, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a showcause notice to SpiceJet seeking the company’s explanation on the “degradation of its safety margins” following six emergency landings in a span of 17 days.
On Thursday, an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Vadodara was diverted to Jaipur after the crew observed vibrations in the engine, ANI reported.
“There was a caution message indicated to the pilot en route,” the airline company’s spokesperson had said. “As a precaution, the pilot diverted the aircraft to Jaipur for further checks. The passengers were accommodated on an alternate aircraft for their onward journey.”
Air India Express plane diverted to Muscat
On Saturday, an Air India Express flight from Kozhikode to Dubai was diverted to Muscat after the passengers smelled a burning odour, according to PTI.
The smell emanated from a vent in a galley, or cooking area, the news agency quoted unidentified officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as saying.
The authority is investigating the incident, the officials said.
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