IndiGo makes emergency landing at Delhi as smoke on cockpit detected midair

A crew member noticed fumes inside the cabin soon after the Vishakhapatnam-bound flight took off from Delhi; returned 10 mins later

An IndiGo plane with 170 passengers onboard made an emergency landing at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after a crew member noticed fumes inside the cabin, an airport source said.

IndiGo's 6E719 flight to Vishakhapatnam took off from Delhi at 5.20 am yesterday but returned 10 minutes later because of "fumes" inside the cabin.

The airport official said that there was also a "drop in cabin pressure" leading to oxygen masks being automatically deployed.

The airline, however, said that a "false alarm" overburning smell in the cabin was behind the "precautionary landing".

"IndiGo flight 6E-719 (Delhi-Visakhapatnam) carried out a precautionary landing at Delhi yesterday due to a false alarm. After take-off from Delhi, the cabin crew advised flight crew about burning smell in the cabin. Keeping the safety and security of passengers in mind, the captain-in-command informed the ATC and carried out a precautionary landing at Delhi," according to an IndiGo spokesperson.

The statement added that after the plane returned to Delhi it was inspected thoroughly and "no oil leakages or electrical burn residues were identified".