A Qatar Airways flight made an emergency landing in Ahmedabad on Tuesday afternoon after facing issues in midair. The Hong Kong-bound flight had taken off from Doha and ran into “technical issues” within a few hours. It was subsequently diverted to the the Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport and taken for thorough inspection.
“Due to some technical issues mid-air, the Doha-Hong Kong flight of Qatar Airways was diverted to Ahmedabad as a precautionary measure. It safely landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport at around 2.40 pm,” an airport official told PTI.
Officials also confirmed that all passengers were safe and technical checks remained underway to assess the condition of the aircraft. The decision to resume the flight will be taken after a thorough inspection. Meanwhile the Qatar Airways website stated that the flight would depart for Hong Kong from Terminal 2 of the airport at 5.30 pm.
Indigo reports windshield crack in mid-air
The incident came mere days after a domestic IndiGo flight reported a crack in the aircraft windshield soon after taking off. A technical issue was reported on IndiGo flight 7253 operating from Madurai to Chennai on Friday. The crack was noticed by the pilot as soon as it appeared on the aircraft’s windshield. The airline’s engineering team has been alerted and is carrying out a detailed inspection of the aircraft. Preliminary findings indicate that the crack is external. IndiGo sources said the aircraft will be cleared for service after all mandatory maintenance checks are completed.
‘Ground Boeing 787s of Air India’
The Federation of Indian Pilots also wrote to the Ministry of Civil Aviation last week — urging it to ground all Boeing 787 aircraft operated by Air India for a detailed inspection of electrical systems. The pilot body has also requested a special audit of the maintenance practices followed by the airline. Two separate Air India flights had experienced technical difficulties in less than a week — prompting an investigation from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. An Air India flight travelling from Amritsar to Birmingham flight had experienced an un-commanded deployment of the Ram Air Turbine earlier this month. This was followed days later by a Vienna-Delhi flight being forced to divert to Dubai due to a technical snag.