Etihad Airways flight develops technical snag, circles in skies for 1.5 hrs to exhaust fuel, returns
BENGALURU: An Etihad Airways flight from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to Abu Dhabi carrying 196 passengers on board plus six crew returned to the airport late on Sunday night after take-off due to technical issues on board.
The EY 237 flight was hovering in the skies above Hindupur and Nandi Hills for nearly 1.5 hours to exhaust the fuel it was carrying, said an airport source. After landing and rectifying the fault, the flight took off at 1.46 am on April 3 and landed in Abu Dhabi at 3.54 am.
According to the airport source, the flight had developed some variation in cabin pressure after take-off. The absence of the right cabin pressure could lead to situations where there is insufficient oxygen on board and hence maintaining it at the right level is an important safety aspect.
An aviation expert said, “After the cabin issue was detected, a decision must have been taken to reduce the fuel since its tank was full. In case of huge aircraft, the fuel can be offloaded. However, since this was relatively small in size, the fuel was being exhausted to prepare for a safe landing."
BIAL said the airline only had to be contacted for its response. Etihad Airways could not be reached for their comments on the issue.