An IndiGo flight from Guwahati to Chennai had 168 passengers. The flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) after the pilot sent out a ‘Mayday’ alert — an urgent distress signal sent via radio — due to critically low fuel levels. plane was low on fuel.
This incident happened when just a few days ago an Air India flight crashed in Ahmedabad, in which 241 people lost their lives and only one survivor survived. This Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Air India had also given a Mayday call before the crash.
IndiGo flight 6E-6764 (A321), which took off from Guwahati at 4:40 pm, tried to land in Chennai at around 7:45 pm. But when the landing gear touched the runway, the pilot decided to ‘go around’ – which is called ‘balked landing’ in aviation language. According to TOI sources, “Almost 35 miles away from Bengaluru airport, the captain gave a ‘Mayday’ call.”
Describing the situation, a passenger said, “The sudden acceleration of the flight was quite frightening, many passengers became tense on their seats, some were clearly looking terrified.” That person decided not to reveal his name.
Multiple sources from the airport and Air Traffic Control (ATC) confirmed to TOI that the pilot did not try to land again in Chennai. Instead, he decided to divert the flight and take it straight to Bengaluru.
Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) sources told TOI, “As soon as the distress call was received, the ATC immediately alerted the ground staff. The medical and fire services team was immediately ready. The plane landed safely at 8:20 pm.”
Both pilots have been removed from duty, but IndiGo is yet to give official confirmation on this. This IndiGo flight, which had very little fuel left, made a safe landing in Bengaluru.
