'May Day': SpiceJet makes emergency landing after smoke detected in cabin

NEW DELHI: A Jabalpur-bound SpiceJet flight made an emergency landing in New Delhi on Saturday after smoke was detected in the cabin.

According to an airline spokesperson, the SpiceJet Q400 flight was at an altitude of 5,000 feet when the cabin crew first noticed the smoke inside the cabin.

The smoke started increasing when the flight reached an altitude of 14,000 feet. The pilot then informed the Air Traffic Control and made a ‘May Day’ distress call.

The SpiceJet aircraft then returned safely to Delhi airport and passengers were safely disembarked, the airline said in a statement.

Saurabh Chhabra, a Delhi to Jabalpur passenger, told an Indian news agency, “Soon after the flight took off, there was a panic situation in the plane as passengers were having trouble breathing inside.”

#WATCH | A SpiceJet aircraft operating from Delhi to Jabalpur returned safely to the Delhi airport today morning after the crew noticed smoke in the cabin while passing 5000ft; passengers safely disembarked: SpiceJet Spokesperson pic.twitter.com/R1LwAVO4Mk

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2022

The agency also shared a video showing how passengers were fanning themselves with newspapers and airline booklets as the smoke entered the cabin.

This is the second incident in two weeks when a fire incident occurred in a SpiceJet aircraft. On June 19, a similar incident happened on Patna to Delhi flight.

The fire in the plane was noticed when the aircraft was between Khagaul and Phulwarisharif, which is 2 nautical miles from the Patna airport. Thereafter, the aircraft was landed at the Patna airport after smoke was noticed from one of the left engines of the airplane.