Air India has launched an investigation after two of its planes were involved in safety incidents within a 24-hour period, raising serious questions about the carrier’s aviation safety standards.
Indian airline flight AI2802, carrying 171 passengers, made an emergency landing at Delhi airport after one of its engines caught fire. The cockpit crew received the fire alert, which was later confirmed to be genuine, prompting the pilots to make an emergency landing.
The Airbus A320 arrived from Bangalore on Thursday evening. Passengers on board were safely evacuated and no injuries or deaths were reported.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
The airline said, “Air India is immediately launching a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident in coordination with the relevant regulatory authorities.”
Earlier, a flight of the same carrier was grounded after an alleged tail-ender at the Bangalore airport.
The Airbus A321, arriving from Delhi, suffered a rear impact during landing; however, the pilots managed to land the plane safely and all passengers and crew disembarked normally.
For the uninitiated, a tailstrike occurs when the rear underside of an airplane contacts the runway during takeoff or landing.
The incidents come just a year after the crash of Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which killed 241 of 242 passengers last June.
