New Delhi: In another aviation scare on Friday, a Delhi-bound SpiceJet aircraft from Bengaluru with 176 persons reportedly onboard landed under emergency conditions at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Friday morning following a technical snag involving partial failure of the hydraulic system. But the flight managed to land safely. All passengers and crew of SpiceJet flight SG 136 are safe, the airline said. The Boeing 737 aircraft landed at about 8.45 am on Friday. Aviation regulator DGCA is expected to probe the incident.
“SpiceJet flight SG 136, Bengaluru to Delhi, experienced, during cruise, partial hydraulic failure due to loss of hydraulic fluid. The crew carried out the emergency procedure and landed safely at Delhi. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) was kept in the loop. It was an uneventful landing,” SpiceJet was quoted as saying in its initial statement. Hydraulic systems involve the pressurising of liquids to generate power. Airline sources said the pilot informed the ATC about the technical snag but did not require any priority landing following which the aircraft landed in due course. Fire-engines and ambulances were positioned at Delhi airport as part of the preparedness as per the Standard Operating Procedure, with medical kits too being kept in readiness. Airport sources said the pilot had contacted the ATC to inform them about the technical snag at about 8.15 am following which the aircraft landed about half an hour later.
In an “updated” statement sent shortly before noon on Friday, the airline however said, “SpiceJet strongly denies...that its flight SG 136 made an emergency landing at the Delhi airport today morning. As per procedure the crew of SG 136 had informed the ATC of a technical problem. At no stage did the crew request for any emergency or priority landing. The aircraft made an uneventful landing at the Delhi airports... The ATC was kept in the loop by the crew all throughout.”
