A Calicut-bound Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi landed back at Abu Dhabi airport after flames were detected in one of the engines soon after the take-off. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Friday. While the Air India Express informed that the aircraft landed safely and all 184 passengers are safe, in a statement DGCA stated that:
“Today an Air India Express B737-800 aircraft VT-AYC operating flight IX 348 (Abu Dhabi-Calicut) was involved in Airturnback due to the No. 1 engine flameout at 1,000 ft. during the climb.”
According to the Air India Express soon after taking off and climbing to 1,000 feet, the pilot detected a flame in one of the engines and decided to go back to Abu Dhabi airport. Earlier on 23rd January, an Air India Express flight from Trivandrum to Muscat landed back 45 minutes after taking off due to a technical glitch in the flight management system (FMS) due to which the flight took off from Trivandrum at 8.30 am and landed back at 9.17 am.
Prior to this a snake was found on a Dubai-bound Air India Express flight in December last year. The aviation regulatory body, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), had ordered a detailed probe regarding the incident.