NEW DELHI: A Bengaluru-bound IndiGo airlines flight was grounded on Friday night after a suspected fire in one of the engines at the time of taxing at the Indira Gandhi Airport, here.
A full emergency was declared at the airport after the suspected spark.
"The flight would have taken off in another 5 to 7 seconds when I saw sparks coming out... and suddenly it turned into a blaze of fire," NDTV quoted a passenger as saying.
"The pilot told us it was an engine malfunction," added the passenger, Priyanka Kumar, who is a communication professional.
On board the flight, she also shared a video on Twitter about the "Scary experience on Delhi runway!"
The aircraft, which had more than 184 passengers (including 7 crew) on board, immediately returned to the bay. All the passengers were stated to be safe. They were subsequently evacuated and flown to Bengaluru in an alternate flight around midnight, sources added.
The video on Twitter showed one of the plane's engines on fire and sparks flying at the time of taxing at the airport.
An aircraft operating flight 6E-2131 (Delhi-Bangalore) experienced a technical issue while on take-off roll, immediately after which the pilot aborted the takeoff and the aircraft returned to the bay. All passengers and crew are safe and an alternate aircraft is being arranged, said a statement issued by IndiGo Airlines.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a probe into the incident.
Both IndiGo and GoAir have dozens of their aircraft grounded as they are awaiting replacement engines, a report said.
It may be recalled that Petrus Elbers joined IndiGo as the chief executive officer (CEO) in September this year.
As reported then by The New Indian Express, the year 2022 has been quite turbulent for India's largest airline. In early February, the airline appointed co-founder Rahul Bhatia as managing director with immediate effect then in mid-February, co-founder Rakesh Gangwal tendered his resignation from the company’s board, giving a fresh twist to the long tussle between the two promoters. In recent times, the airline faced massive criticism following its employees’ protest over salary restoration and a section of cabin crew queuing up to join Air India that delayed a large number of its flights.
A report quoting monthly data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that prior to April, IndiGo was the most punctual airline in domestic flights. But, according to September ata from DGCA, Vistara was the most punctual airline with an on-time performance of 91%, followed by AirAsia India at 89.8%, Air India at 87.1% and IndiGo trailing at 84.1%, the reported added.
(With inputs from PTI & ANI)