Follow-up Action to Be Taken, Says DGCA After Probe into IndiGo Plane's Engine Fire Incident

Aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday said it will take suitable follow-up action after conducting a detailed probe into an incident of an IndiGo plane’s engine catching fire at the Delhi airport.

A Bengaluru-bound A320 ceo aircraft, carrying 184 people, aborted takeoff at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here due to fire in one of its engines Friday night. The plane returned to the bay and passengers were deboarded safely.

“The priority is to carry out a detailed investigation of the incident and ascertain the reasons for the fire in the engine. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished swiftly and the aircraft is now grounded,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI.

He said the engine that caught fire was an IAEV2500. It is manufactured by IAE International Aero Engines AG.

“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will do a detailed study to check whether there have been any such incidents pertaining to these engines before. After the investigation, suitable follow-up action will be taken,” he said.

A DGCA source said the aircraft VT-IFM operating flight 6E-2131 from Delhi to Bengaluru was involved in reject takeoff following engine 2 fail warning. A loud bang was heard and fire extinguisher bottle was discharged, the source added.

Soon after the incident that took place around 10 pm on Friday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said officials concerned of the DGCA have been directed to “look into this and furnish a report at the earliest”.

Videos uploaded on Twitter showed shocking visuals of fire on the aircraft’s wing as the flight was about to take off.

“An aircraft operating flight 6E2131 from Delhi to Bangalore experienced a technical issue while on take-off roll, immediately after which the pilot aborted the take-off and the aircraft returned to the bay. All passengers and crew are safe and an alternate aircraft is being arranged to operate the flight. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers,” IndiGo said in a statement.

According to the airport police, the aircraft was carrying 177 passengers and 7 crew members. “Today at 22.08 hrs, IGIA Control Room received a call from CISF Control room regarding a fire problem in the engine of flight No 6E 2131 going from Delhi to Bengaluru. The plane just started on the runway for taking off. At the same time, it was stopped and all the passengers were safely taken out,” the airport DCP said in a statement.

The incident is the latest in a series of similar such malfunctions and glitches that low-cost private airlines have suffered in recent months.

In July this year, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet following eight technical malfunction incidents in a span of 18 days.

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