Source: Pranav Mukul | www.indianexpress.com

In what is at least the fifth air safety incident involving a SpiceJet aircraft in the last two months, a Jabalpur-bound flight operated by the low-cost carrier on a Bombardier Q400 Dash 8 plane made an emergency landing in Delhi Saturday morning after smoke was noticed in the aircraft cabin.

The aircraft took off from Delhi early Saturday, and while climbing past 5,000 feet, the crew noticed smoke in the cabin along with the lavatory smoke alarm sound going off, a top official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said. “Cabin crew informed cockpit crew of mild smoke in the cabin, but on visual check, no sign of smoke or damage was observed in lavatory,” the official added.

Later, when passing 14,000 feet, increased smoke was seen in the cabin and the same was conveyed to the pilots, who levelled the aircraft at 15,000 feet and initiated a turn back to Delhi, the official said, adding that a “MAY DAY” call was declared to the air traffic control. The aircraft landed safely in Delhi few minutes after 7am and all passengers were evacuated on the taxiway.

In a statement, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: “On July 2, 2022, SpiceJet Q400 aircraft was operating SG-2962 (Delhi-Jabalpur). While passing 5000 ft, the crew noticed smoke in the cabin. The pilots decided to return back to Delhi. Aircraft landed safely at Delhi and passengers were safely disembarked.”