Priyanka Kumar was on the plane and shot the incident from her seat window.
New Delhi:
The IndiGo plane grounded at the Delhi for fire in its engine was “at full speed” on the runaway when sparks appeared “just before take-off”, and the pilot hit the brakes, a passenger told NDTV. “The flight would have taken off in another 5 to 7 seconds when I saw sparks coming out… and suddenly it turned into a blaze of fire,” she said.
“Everyone is safe and being evacuated,” she said around 11 pm, as she and other came out about an hour and a half after the fire. She said she did not know why they were asked to stay on the plane after it was taken to a parking bay.
“The fire was put out immediately,” she added, “There was panic initially. But the crew comforted us. There was no sudden jerk while stopping too.”
“The pilot told us it was an engine malfunction,” said the passenger, communications professional Priyanka Kumar, from the spot. She said passengers were told an alternate flight for Bengaluru was now being arranged.
There were 184 people onboard — 177 passengers and seven crew.
The alternate flight took off around midnight.
Having shared the first video of the fire, taken through her seat window, she gave a rough timeline: “The plane got onto the runway around 9.40 pm, and the fire started just when it had gained full speed, at just about 9.45 pm.”
Extinguishers were used and a fire brigade came in too, immediately, she said. “The crew gave water to the passengers. There were a lot of elderly people, a lot of children on the plane.”
“The plane was taken to a parking bay, they told us. We got off using the normal way by stairs — one by one,” she added. This was just after 11 pm, when she said she had just come out, as had the others.
Delhi Police said all passengers and crew were safely taken out. There was no immediate word on why people stayed on the plane for nearly 90 minutes after the incident.
The airline issued a statement: “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,” it added.
