An IndiGo flight en route to Guwahati returned to Pune and made an emergency landing at the airport after its landing gear malfunctioned on Sunday. There were 192 passengers aboard the flight.
IndiGo flight 6E 0623 (VT-IZE) reported a technical issue soon after taking off from Pune airport. Its landing gear failed to retract.
In a statement, the Pune Airport authorities said that the pilot informed the Air Traffic Control (ATC) that the aircraft's landing gear (undercarriage) failed to retract and remained in the extended position.
Following this, the airport authorities immediately coordinated with the ATC, IndiGo and other concerned agencies. A full emergency was declared by the Indian Air Force (IAF), which manages the airport. All prescribed emergency response procedures were activated for the landing of the aircraft, the statement added.
As per protocol, fire and ambulance services along with other emergency response teams were placed on high alert to deal with any eventuality and ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
The aircraft landed safely and was escorted to Bay No 7 by three firefighting vehicles and two ambulances as per the prescribed emergency response procedures.
The full emergency at the airport was withdrawn by the ATC at 9:10 AM after confirming that the aircraft was in a safe and normal condition, the officials said.
The statement read, "All 192 persons on board, including passengers and crew, were safe and no injuries were reported." The airline was arranging an alternate aircraft from Bengaluru to Pune to facilitate the onward journey of the affected passengers to Guwahati, it added.
(With PTI Inputs)