A chartered flight on its way to Beijing from New Delhi, made an emergency landing at the Agartala airport on Thursday.
The four Chinese passengers and five crew of the flight are safe, but the aircraft was slightly damaged.
Business jet GLF5 plane took off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 8.30 a.m. but within minutes developed mechanical problems. Less than two hours later, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the Agartala airport received an SOS message for landing clearance. “It landed safely at 10.30 a.m.,” a senior official of the Airports Authority of India told The Hindu.
He said the aircraft was unable to resume its journey and another chartered flight from New Delhi is expected on Friday to proceed to Beijing.
Sources said the the onward journey of Chinese nationals from Agartala would be possible only after clearance from India’s air defence unit, the DGCA and other agencies.
