23 emergency landings in nearly 3 years, says Aviation Ministry

NEW DELHI: The operating crew of airlines has declared emergency in 23 flights from January 2020 till now.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday said that in 19 cases, after the landing of the aircraft, the affected components were replaced. Three emergency landings resulted from weather diversion, and one emergency landing was due to bird hit.

Such occurrences were thoroughly analysed and their severity was determined. Based on the severity, occurrences were investigated. No violation has been found in these occurrences, said the Ministry.

As per the Ministry's information, Indigo airline's planes observed 11 instances of emergency landing while SpiceJet planes observed four such instances from January 2020 till now. Similarly, Air India observed two such incidents while AirAsia observed one emergency landing in the given period.

"Operators maintain their aircraft as per the manufacturer guidelines. In case of an event, such as an emergency landing caused due to a failed aircraft system, the system is rectified based on approved maintenance programme and aircraft is released for service. DGCA, through their Annual Surveillance Plan, carries out surveillance and spot checks to ensure that aircraft are maintained as per the manufacturer guidelines," said the Ministry in its reply.

Based on the outcome of DGCA investigation, to prevent the recurrence of emergency landing due to weather diversion, the Airport Authority of India issued two circulars in 2021 and 2022. There were about handling of flights declaring diversions, Minimum Fuel and regarding dissemination of weather information.

The Ministry also informed that all the licensed airports were required to have wildlife hazard management programmes in place.