Metal debris falls from plane during emergency landing at Delhi airport: DGCA orders investigation

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday launched an investigation after metal pieces allegedly fell from an aircraft that made an emergency landing at Delhi airport. The emergency landing was initiated on Monday evening after crew members found an engine fault. The landing was successful and no injuries were reported among the passengers. The incident has also been brought to the attention of Delhi Police.

A senior DGCA official confirmed that a thorough investigation into the incident and a safety inspection of the aircraft had been ordered. According to Delhi Police, a PCR call was received at 9:30 pm on Monday evening from a resident of Anuj Vihar, Shankar Vihar area, reporting “falling aircraft parts”. At the scene, the caller reported that an aircraft had flown over them and metal parts had fallen on their residence. The caller’s findings included a small piece of black coloured metal, which was handed over to the police.

Further verification by air traffic control revealed that Air India Express flight IX 145 had taken off for Bahrain at 8:48 p.m. Crew members encountered engine failure during the flight, necessitating an emergency landing, but the emergency landing was completed successfully at 9:10 p.m. without any injuries to the passengers. The PCR call followed the safe landing of the aircraft. Whether the metal parts are from the aircraft is yet to be confirmed through a pending technical inspection. The concerned authorities have been notified to initiate further action.

Rohit Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West), said, “This is yet to be confirmed. The inspection report of the aircraft is still pending. Only after the report is received will we know if anything is missing from the aircraft.” An Air India Express spokesperson commented on the situation, “Air India Express flight IX 145 encountered an engine problem after takeoff from Delhi on September 2. The problem was fixed as per standard procedures and a safety landing was conducted in Delhi.”

“The matter has been reported to the regulator and other concerned authorities and is currently being investigated. We are aware of reports of metal pieces found in Shankar Vihar. At this time, we cannot confirm whether these metal pieces are from our aircraft. The investigation to ascertain the facts is still on,” the spokesperson added.

(With contributions from agencies.)