Home Cities Delhi GoAir flight emergency landing: Teens spot plane fire, alert saves 194 lives

GoAir flight emergency landing: Teens spot plane fire, alert saves 194 lives

The flight captain was informed and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Indira Gandhi International airport.

Rohit alerted his father in time to avert mishap. Express

THE ALERTNESS of two teenagers of Goyla Dairy village in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka saved the lives of 194 people onboard a Bengaluru-bound GoAir flight on Wednesday, after they spotted fire and smoke from the tail of the aircraft and alerted the Delhi Police Control Room. The flight captain was informed and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Indira Gandhi International airport.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (airport) Sanjay Bhatia said they received a call at 7.40 pm. “We immediately verified the caller and informed the agencies concerned following which the flight made the emergency landing at 7.47 pm on Runway 28,” he added.

The passengers were accommodated in another flight. “G8-557 Delhi-Bengaluru flight made an emergency landing at Delhi airport at 19.53 hours due to technical reasons,” a statement by GoAir said. “After receiving the call from Delhi Police, CISF security personnel immediately conveyed the message to Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) and to the Air Traffic Control (ATC). Within minutes, the GoAir flight, which took off at 7.28 pm from the IGI airport, was identified,” sources said.

The captain was alerted and was asked to return, after which the flight asked for help and a full emergency was declared due to failure of one engine. “All necessary precautions were taken and fire safety and ambulances were kept on standby to handle any untoward situation,” an officer said.

Saurabh Tandon, who was on the flight, said, “At least five to seven minutes after take-off, I heard people screaming about a fire. As I looked to my left, I noticed that the left engine had caught fire. The plane was flying at around 5,000-6,000 feet. The fire, which lasted for about 30 seconds, somehow went off, probably because the pilots switched off the engine,” he added.

His alertness, prompt call averted tragedy

Rohit Singh (17) was sitting on his terrace, along with his cousin Nitin, when they saw an airplane fly over. The boys were stunned when they saw the tail of the airplane on fire.

Rohit, a Class XII student, said he was unable to discern what he had seen, so he called out to his father. “Initially, I thought something had happened to Rohit, but then he pointed towards the fire coming out of the airplane. Without wasting any time, I called up the Delhi Police,” said Rohit’s father, Navneet Singh.

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