New Delhi: With an aim to review the security surveillance of the flights, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday chaired a one-on-one meeting with heads of airline companies.The meeting was held to take note of safety norms.
The meeting comes after several instances were reported in the country where flights were diverted citing safety or functioning issues.
An Air India Express aircraft while operating from Calicut to Dubai was diverted to Muscat after a burning smell was observed from one of the vents in the forward galley of the flight on Saturday.
A senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the Air India Express B737-800 aircraft VT-AXX operating flight IX-355 (Calicut-Dubai) was diverted to Muscat as, during Cruise, a burning smell came from one of the vents in the forward galley."
"Crew carried out a non-normal checklist for smoke fire or fumes and diverted to Muscat and landed safely," he said.
The official also told that the on-ground engineering inspections were carried out as a relevant task of the Fault Isolation Manual. He said that the Engine Ground run was carried out with both the ENGINE and auxiliary power unit (APU) operating.
Another Indian flight, a Hyderabad-bound IndiGo airliner from Sharjah was diverted to Pakistan's Karachi airport after the pilot reported a technical defect.
"IndiGo flight 6E-1406, operating from Sharjah to Hyderabad was diverted to Karachi. The pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi," IndiGo said in a press release.
It further added that an additional flight will be sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad. Notably, this is the second Indian Airline to make a precautionary landing in Karachi in 2 weeks.
The Union Minister had earlier chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over air safety after three emergency landings at airports in the country in the last 48 hours.(ANI)
