A Turkish Airlines wide-body aircraft en route from Kathmandu to Istanbul made an emergency landing at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Wednesday. The aircraft was forced to land after the pilot reported a fire in one of its engines, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.
The Airbus A330-300, operating as flight THY 727, departed Tribhuvan International Airport at around 1.15 pm with 236 people on board, including 11 crew members. Shortly after take-off, the crew detected a malfunction in the right engine during the climb phase.
Pilots issue ‘PAN PAN’ call
At 1.38 pm, the pilots issued a “PAN PAN” call, an internationally recognised urgency signal, and requested diversion to Kolkata after reporting a right-engine fire and operating on a single engine, according to the ministry.
While a ‘Mayday’ call is issued in life-threatening situations, ‘PAN PAN’ signals an urgent problem that is not immediately dangerous. ‘Mayday’ is used when the aircraft or lives are at direct risk. ‘PAN PAN’ is one level lower, indicating urgency without immediate danger.
“The Turkish Airlines with flight number ‘THY-727’ caught fire within four minutes of the take off, the right engine caught fire. The flight took off at 1.28 PM (Local Time),” Teknath Sitaula, General Manager of Tribhuvan International Airport told ANI over phone.
Full emergency announced at Kolkata airport
Airport authorities activated full emergency procedures as the aircraft approached. The fire was brought under control mid-air at about 1.51 pm using onboard suppression systems and the plane landed safely shortly after 2.30 pm.
Officials at the Kolkata airport confirmed that all passengers and crew were unharmed and disembarked normally.
An airport official told ANI that modern multi-engine aircraft are designed to safely continue flight, climb and land even with one engine inoperative. Such aircraft are also equipped with built-in fire detection and extinguishing mechanisms to contain engine fires during flight.
The emergency landing comes at a time of growing scrutiny of aviation safety. Last week, a VSR Ventures Learjet 45 charter crashed while landing in Maharashtra’s Baramati, killing five people, including Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Following the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered a special audit of the operator.