A Mumbai-bound IndiGo flight was delayed by more than four hours at Jabalpur’s Dumna airport on Monday after one of its tyres deflated while the aircraft was parked in the apron area, officials said. The aircraft had arrived from Mumbai around noon, and the tyre reportedly went flat after passengers had safely disembarked.
"One of the tyres deflated while the aircraft was stationed in the apron after arrival," Dumna Airport Director Rajeev Ratan Pandey told news agency PTI over the phone. The return flight to Mumbai, originally scheduled to depart at 12:40 pm, could not take off due to a technical snag. A replacement tyre was flown in from Delhi, causing a delay of several hours.
In the meantime, most passengers were rebooked and flown to their destinations via alternate IndiGo flights through Bengaluru and Delhi. The remaining passengers waited at the airport until repairs were completed. The aircraft finally departed for Mumbai at 5:30 pm after the deflated rear tyre was replaced. IndiGo has yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.
Kolkata-bound AI Express flight returned to Bengaluru following tech snag
In a separate incident, a Kolkata-bound Air India Express plane returned to Bengaluru due to a technical issue on Sunday evening. The flight IX2718, operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, returned after being airborne for over two hours, according to information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.
"One of our flights from Bengaluru returned to the airport following a technical issue. The aircraft circled to reduce fuel and weight before executing a safe, precautionary landing," an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. An alternate aircraft was arranged to ferry the passengers to Kolkata.
The airline is investigating the technical snag in the aircraft. Details about the number of passengers onboard the flight were not disclosed.
(With inputs from PTI)
