BENGALURU: An IndiGo flight heading from Udaipur in Rajasthan to Bengaluru was held back at the runway of the Maharana Pratap airport just before take-off as the Air Traffic Control Unit suspected smoke to be emanating from the power cabin of the tail of the flight. The pilot took the plane (6E-979) back to the bay and investigations revealed it to be a false alarm.
The plane, an Airbus A320neo, which was supposed to take off at 1.20 pm, finally took off at 3.20 pm after a two-hour delay at Udaipur airport. It reached Kempegowda International Airport at 5.37 pm.
According to a statement released by IndiGo, “Flight no 6E 979 operating Udaipur-Bangalore was held by the Udaipur ATC after taxi-out.
The ATC suspected smoke from the auxiliary power unit in the aircraft tail section. Following the standard operating procedures, the pilot returned the aircraft to the bay for further inspection. During the inspection there were no unusual observations, so it was a false alarm.” The statement added that the aircraft was released for further flight.
Two IndiGo aircraft, of the A320neo make, developed problems last week and had to return to the runway from where they took off. Due to repeated issues with this specific model, aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), had ordered IndiGo to replace all of its A320neo aircraft with modified Pratt & Whitney engines by January 31, 2020.