Smoke detected mid-air from IndiGo flight; makes priority landing

A city-bound IndiGo flight from New Delhi made a priority landing here Tuesday after smoke was detected mid-air in the cockpit and cabin of the A320 aircraft, a source said Wednesday. The pilot issued a Pan-Pan call and sought a priority landing from the Ahmedabad ATC, the source said. An IndiGo spokesperson said its flight made a priority landing due to an "unusual" smell. A 'Pan-Pan' call is the one which is issued in a less urgent situation but that still requires attention from air traffic control.

"The flight 6E6373 took off from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport at 7.42 am for Ahmedabad. However, mid-air the pilot noticed smoke in the aircraft cockpit and cabin and issued a Pan-Pan call to seek priority landing from the Ahmedabad ATC. The Airbus A320 plane landed at 8.57 am, about half an hour ahead of the scheduled arrival time," the source said. This was the second incident of the pilot reported smoke in an IndiGo plane as on December 10 last year, airline's Kolkata-bound flight from Jaipur had to made an emergency landing for similar reasons.

"An IndiGo flight 6E6373 operating on Delhi-Ahmedabad route on January 1 made a priority landing at Ahmedabad (airport)," IndiGo said in the statement. "In flight, the crew noticed an unusual smell," the statement said adding (but) there was no operational impact. IndiGo also said that on the ground, it was a "minor technical glitch" which was rectified before the next flight.

(With inputs from agencies.)