BHUBANESWAR: Panic gripped on Friday passengers of Bhubaneswar-Mumbai Air India flight (AI 670) as the aircraft developed technical snag mid-air.

As per Bhubaneswar Airport sources, failure of one of the engines of the aircraft, which departed from the Biju Patnaik International Airport here at 5.07 pm, was detected following which it made an emergency landing at Swami Vivekananda Airport in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur at 5.57 pm. All the 89 passengers onboard the aircraft were reportedly safe.

“We saw fire emerging from the left side engine of the aircraft. All of us were scared. However, prompt action taken by the Air India authorities ensured safe landing of the aircraft,” Debasis Patra, a passenger said.

Reports said a passenger named Biswajit Behera first noticed the fire while going to the washroom in the plane and informed an airhostess.