NEW DELHI: A
SpiceJet
aircraft returned to Delhi on Saturday morning after
smoke
was detected in the cabin.
The cabin crew first noticed the smoke on the Dash8 Q400 (VT-SUR) that was operating as SG-2962 from Delhi to Jabalpur. The aircraft was passing 5,000 feet during ascent when the incident happened.
“Cabin crew informed the pilots about the mild smoke in the cabin. On visual check, no sign of smoke or damage was observed in lavatory. The smoke warning also went off,” said sources.
Then while further climbing 14,000 feet, smoke was seen to be increasing in the cabin. The pilots levelled the aircraft at 15,000 feet and decided to return to Delhi by informing the Air Traffic Control and declared ‘MAY DAY’.
The aircraft, which had taken off at 6.29 am, landed safely at Delhi around 7.20 am and passengers were evacuated on a taxiway in coordination with the ATC.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident. The regulator, which had recently conducted checks on the entire fleet of the budget airline, said it is “looking into all their (SpiceJet) cases minutely to set things right”.
Confrming the incident, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: “On July 2, 2022, SpiceJet Q400 aircraft was operating SG-2962 (Delhi-Jabalpur). While passing 5000 feet, the crew noticed smoke in the cabin. The pilots decided to return back to Delhi. Aircraft landed safely at Delhi and passengers were safely disembarked.”
On June 19, 2022, a SpiceJet Dash8 Q400 flying from Delhi to Jabalpur as SG 2962 had returned to IGI Airport soon after take off after the turboprop (VT-SUU) suffered a “pressurisation snag”.
Watch SpiceJet flight returns to airport after smoke detected in cabin
