KARACHI: A Dubai-bound Indian flight with 138 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport (JIAP) due to a technical fault developed during the journey.
The sources in the aviation department shared that SpiceJet flight SG-11 encountered a technical issue in Pakistan’s airspace and sought emergency landing permission at the Karachi airport.
They said that the permission was granted on humanitarian grounds at the request of the Indian pilot. The passengers were not allowed to disembark.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that the engineers are working to fix the fault and only after their clearance the aircraft will be allowed to fly.
In a statement, the Indian airline stated that SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi – Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning.
The aircraft landed safely at Karachi. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft. Passengers have been served refreshments. A replacement aircraft is being sent to Karachi that will take the passengers to Dubai, it added.
The official confirmed that the airplane, a Boeing 737, had reported an oil leak and repairs were under way. The passengers aboard, nearly 100, have been safely moved to the transit lounge.
SpiceJet confirmed the development on its Twitter handle, but said there was no emergency declared as the landing was normal.
According to a report by NDTV, SpiceJet flight B737 had taken off from Delhi but was diverted to Karachi midway due to an “indicator light malfunctioning”.
“The aircraft landed safely at [sic] Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked. No emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft,” the report quoted the airline as saying in a statement.
It assured that an alternative aircraft had been sent to Karachi which would take the passengers to Dubai.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation was quoted as saying that the pilots had observed an unusual reduction in fuel quantity and suspected a leak.
However, no evidence of the fuel leak was found after the aircraft landed.
Separately, the CAA spokesman said “all flight operations at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, are normal”.