Go First India-Maldives flight makes emergency landing due to false alarm

The Go First flight going from India to the Maldives had to make an emergency landing in Coimbatore, Kerala after a false alarm went off during the flight, reports ANI.

After a faulty alarm rang due to an engine warning, a Go First flight from Bengaluru to Male (Maldives) made an emergency landing at Coimbatore airport. The plane had to make an emergency landing after an engine overheat warning alarm sounded.  Around 12 p.m., the Airbus 320 touched down at Coimbatore International Airport. The alarm allegedly went off after the twin engines overheated, and the flight was safely landed. The engineers checked the engines and determined that there was a problem with the alarm and that the flight was safe to fly.

"The plane with 92 passengers left for Male, the capital of Maldives, from Bengaluru, Karnataka today at 12:00 pm. An hour after the flight took off, the engine overheated, and the warning bell sounded. Shocked by this, the pilot contacted air traffic control and requested permission to land at the nearby Coimbatore airport. Permission was granted at Coimbatore Airport. Firefighters and rescue workers were on standby after the plane landed," said the officials.

The flight landed safely at the Coimbatore airport at 12.57 pm. All passengers were disembarked, and the entire aircraft was searched. As per reports, there was no sign of ignition on the flight.

The flight will depart for Male, the capital of Maldives, after 5 pm after following the underlined procedures.Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia 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.

Scindia directed the officials in the meeting that, "there should be no compromise with the passengers` safety."Further, he said, "safety is the topmost paramount priority and a directive has been issued by the ministry to adhere to strictness about the safety issues and maintain the highest safety standards as per international norms.

"Earlier, three aircraft of international carriers made emergency landings at various airports in the country in one day recently, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines. A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.All emergency landings happened because of various technical issues.

The Air Arabia aircraft while operating flight G9-426 from Sharjah to Cochin was involved in a Hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely on the runway. The aircraft has been towed to the bay. In another incident, on July 16, an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport due to a pressurisation issue.In a third similar incident, on July 15, an aircraft of Srilankan Airlines made an emergency landing at Chennai airport due to a hydraulic issue. 

(With inputs from ANI)