Teenagers spot fire on GoAir flight with 194 onboard
Two teenagers in Delhi saved the lives of 194 people when they spotted a fire on the tail of a Bengaluru-bound GoAir flight on Wednesday evening, officials said. The Delhi Police was alerted, following which the flight captain was informed and the aircraft made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital.
Navneet Kumar was resting inside his aunt's house in south-west Delhi's Najafgarh area when two of his nephews who were playing outside ran in frantically. They had seen a plane, mid-air, on fire."I immediately came out of the house and saw flames had engulfed the left engine," the Gurugram resident told Mail Today. "I was in a state of shock for a moment and so were the others present there. I realised that a massive tragedy would occur if steps were not initiated soon. I immediately dialled 100 on my mobile phone to inform police about the incident," said Kumar.The 187 passengers and six crew members on board the Bengaluru-bound Airbus A320 of GoAir (G8 557) had a narrow escape after the plane caught fire just seven minutes after take-off from Delhi airport on Wednesday evening.The pilot informed Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the plane made an emergency landing without any casualties.ALSO READ|  Jet Airways Goa-Mumbai flight with 161 on board skids off runway, all passengers evacuatedRecounting the sight, Kumar said, "It was quite dark but the aircraft was visible due to the fire. We saw the plane for 10 to 15 seconds while it was crossing above the house and travelled quite a distance before it turned around and headed towards the airport for emergency landing."The incident came days after two aircraft came face to face moments before one was to take-off at Indira Gandhi International airport in the national Capital.An Indigo flight was headed towards the taxiway after landing just when a SpiceJet aircraft was preparing for take-off on December 27.Hours earlier on the same day, a Jet Airways flight with 161 people on board veered off the runway and skidded into the field at Goa airport.Some passengers were hurt in the incident. Jet flight 9W 2374 was scheduled to fly from Goa to Mumbai at 4.40 am but aborted the takeoff at the last moment as pilots detected a technical snag.The flight spun 360 degree before coming to a halt in the field inside the Dabolim airport premises."We received a PCR call about a plane catching fire mid-air above Najafgarh and when we enquired about the matter the airport operation control centre confirmed about the emergency landing of a GoAir flight," said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sanjay Bhatia of IGI Airport.'ALSO READ|  Singapore Airlines engine trouble sets wing on fire, 241 evacuated safelyAccording to a top source at the airport, the pilot was aware that a technical fault had occurred in the left wing of the engine but did not know that it had caught fire.It was the local police that informed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials and ATC passed on the message to the pilot.After detecting the technical fault and fire in the engine, the pilot of the Airbus sought permission for emergency landing and clearance of runway at IGI airport on priority."Following instructions about emergency landing, we placed fire engines and ambulance on standby to deal with any eventualities. Airbus A320 has two engines on either side. The pilot made full emergency landing safely. All 193 passengers and crew members are safe and sound," said a senior officer at IGI airport.ALSO READ|  SpiceJet plane makes emergency landing at Delhi airport, airline deniesThe official pointed out that if the plane had stayed in the air for some more time, it could have led to a major tragedy.The collective efforts of an alert onlooker, Delhi police, CISF, ATC and the two pilots of the plane helped defuse the crisis, he said.Since the matter was quite sensitive, the passengers were evacuated through two normal gates and two emergency doors.They were put on another Bengaluru-bound GoAir flight an hour later."G8-557 Delhi-Bengaluru flight had an emergency landing at Delhi airport at 1953 hours (7:53pm) due to technical reasons," the airline said in a statement.