A Delhi-bound SpiceJet plane, carrying 185 passengers and six crew members, made an emergency landing in Patna on Sunday afternoon, minutes after its take-off, as its cabin crew witnessed sparks coming from an engine, a senior government official said. All the passengers of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft were safely deboarded, according to a SpiceJet statement. “During rotation (takeoff), the cockpit crew suspected a bird hit on engine No.1 (left engine). Since the crew did not observe any abnormality, the aircraft continued further climb,” the official said. #WATCH Patna-Delhi SpiceJet flight safely lands at Patna airport after catching fire mid-air, all 185 passengers safe#Bihar pic.twitter.com/vpnoXXxv3m — ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2022 “Subsequently, the cabin crew informed pilots about sparks coming from the engine… Crew declared PAN-PAN and decided to return to Patna. The ATC (air traffic control) was apprised of the same and the aircraft landed safely back in Patna with no injury to crew and passengers,” the official added. The PAN-PAN message is signalled by the cockpit crew to declare that they have a situation that is urgent but for the time being, it does not pose an immediate danger to anyone's life or to the aircraft itself. Onlookers near the Patna airport reported seeing dark smoke coming from the aircraft’s left engine as it made its approach back. In a statement, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: “On takeoff, during rotation, cockpit crew suspected bird hit on Engine #1. As a precautionary measure and as per SOP, Captain shutdown the affected engine and decided to return to Patna. The aircraft landed safely in Patna and passengers were safely deboarded. Post flight inspection showed bird hit with 3 fan blades damaged.”
