india

Updated: Aug 13, 2019 15:39 IST

A New Delhi-bound IndiGo flight carrying Union minister Nitin Gadkari and 158 other passengers failed to take off from Maharashtra’s Nagpur airport on Tuesday morning due to a “technical fault”, an official said.

The Airbus A320, returned to the taxiway from Nagpur’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International airport’s runway at around 7.30am.

The pilot decided to abort the take-off after detecting a technical error. All passengers, including Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, were deboarded from the flight.

They later took off at around 1.45pm in another aircraft. The airline spokesperson however said that the aircraft was not involved in aborted take off.

“An IndiGo flight arrived at Nagpur from Delhi. There were no defects reported. It was further cleared to operate to Delhi. During engine start at Nagpur, the pilot observed a momentary caution message. Aircraft returned back to bay for requisite checks. Caution message reappeared during ground checks. The aircraft is withdrawn from service and under maintenance at Nagpur. Aircraft was not involved in aborted take-off. A caution had appeared during engine start-up and appropriate operating procedures were followed,” the spokesperson

A Nagpur airport official said that all the passengers, estimated to be around 168, were taken to the airport terminal building after the aircraft returned to the bay.

“The aircraft had to be changed and passengers were accommodated in another aircraft. This delayed the flight departure and it could finally take off at 1.45pm,” said the official.

Gadkari’s office here confirmed that the senior BJP leader, who is a Lok Sabha member from Nagpur constituency, was onboard the flight when it returned from the runway.