More trouble for Indigo, aircraft with 77 on board suffers tyre burst at Hyderabad airport

HYDERABAD: In more trouble for Indigo, a flight of the low-cost carrier from Tirupati to Hyderabad suffered a tyre burst while landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Wednesday night. There were 72 passengers,  one infant and four crew members in the flight when the incident took place. All on board are safe.

"The 72 passengers plus 1 infant and 4 crew are safe. All passengers of flight 6E 7117 have disembarked and taken with luggage to arrival hall," IndiGo said in a statement. It also said that the ATR 72 was being taken to the parking bay.

Due to the tyre burst, there were sparks which the personnel at the airport noticed. The firefighting team was rushed to the aircraft to prevent any disaster.

The incident took place at around 10.30 pm when the aircraft was landing. It led to panic among passengers.

YSR Congress Party legislator Roja was reportedly among the 72 passengers on board when the mishap occurred. The former actress sent few visuals from the aircraft to some television channels. In the video clippings, some passengers were seen having heated argument with the crew over the delay in opening the doors.

The pilot was heard advising passengers to be calm and remain seated while assuring them that there was nothing serious.

Earlier this week, IndiGo grounded its A320 Neo aircraft fitted with Pratt&Whitney engine due to "oil chip issue" taking the total number of grounded NEOs to seven. On March 19, an A320 (neo) aircraft of the IndiGo which was supposed to leave for Mumbai from Cochin and another A320 (neo) aircraft was grounded immediately after departure at Mumbai airport.