Nearly 30 passengers aboard a domestic IndiGo Airlines flight sustained minor injuries during an evacuation exercise launched after thick plumes of smoke billowed out of the aircraft as it landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here on Wednesday.
As many as 154 people, including passengers and cabin crew members, were present in the aircraft that was coming from Mumbai. The flight landed at runway 27 of Terminal 1-D.
Sources in IGIA said that around 3-30 p.m. the Air Traffic Control tower observed dense smoke coming out of the left side of flight 6E-176 and alerted the pilots and pressed the emergency services into action.
The flight managed to land safely and the captain asked the cabin crew to evacuate the 147 passengers, 1 infant and 6 crew members from the plane. The evacuation was done through the emergency slide chute of the aircraft in just over a minute after landing. “It was during the evacuation that passengers suffered bruises and other minor injuries,” said a source.
It a statement issued on Wednesday evening, IndiGo said the injuries were minor. While the company did not give the number of those injured, sources said nearly 30 persons sustained injuries of different nature.
“All the passengers were evacuated through the right hand side slide-chute and one left hand side slide-chute in approximately 75 seconds. We confirm that all passengers and crew members are safe and have been taken to the terminal building. Some of the passengers who suffered minor injuries during evacuation were given medical attention and taken care of by our airport team as well as five members of our FAC (Family Assistance and Care) team members. They have all left for their homes,” said the statement.
The airlines also said there was no fire.
While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun probing the incident, sources said that the smoke was caused due to overheating of the braking system.
