In what is at least the fifth air safety incident involving a SpiceJet aircraft in the last two months, a Jabalpur-bound flight operated by the low-cost carrier on a Bombardier Q400 Dash 8 plane made an emergency landing in New Delhi Saturday morning after smoke was detected in the cabin.
The aircraft took off from Delhi early Saturday and while passing 5,000 feet, the crew noticed smoke in the cabin along with the lavatory smoke alarm going off, a top official at India’s aviation safety regulator DGCA said.
“Cabin crew informed the cockpit crew of mild smoke in the cabin, but on visual check, no sign of smoke or damage was observed in the lavatory,” the official added.
Later, when passing 14,000 feet, more smoke was seen in the cabin and the same was conveyed to the pilots, who levelled the aircraft at 15,000 feet and initiated a turn-back to Delhi, the official said, adding that a “MAYDAY” call was declared to the air traffic control.
The aircraft landed safely in Delhi few minutes after 7 am and all passengers were evacuated on the taxiway.