Two Incidents Rock Indian Aviation in a Single Week

An IndiGo flight arriving in Chennai from Kolkata declared a full emergency on Tuesday night after the aircraft experienced a left engine failure while preparing to land. Airport officials confirmed that emergency procedures were activated immediately, and the plane, carrying 224 people, landed safely. The emergency status was lifted shortly after the aircraft touched down. The incident adds to recent operational challenges for IndiGo, which has faced significant disruptions due to a pilot shortage and adjustments to stricter flight duty regulations. Former Air India executive Jitendra Bhargava described the situation as a “bad chapter in Indian aviation history,” suggesting the airline should have reduced its schedule earlier to mitigate the crisis. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers later issued an apology to passengers for the widespread disruptions.

This incident occurred just one week after a serious event involving an Air India Airbus A320neo. On 4 August, the aircraft, flying from Phuket to Delhi, suddenly lost approximately 300 feet of altitude over Odisha before recovering and landing safely in the capital. The flight was carrying 137 passengers and 8 crew members, 17 of whom sustained injuries. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau classified the event as a serious incident. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation summoned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson for an update on the investigation. The same day, sources cited by Reuters reported that a confirmatory drug test for the flight’s captain had returned a positive result for marijuana.