IndiGo plane engine catches fire; emergency declared at Delhi airport

An IndiGo plane declared emergency at the Delhi airport on Friday after one of its engines caught fire at the time of taxiing, according to sources.

The Bengaluru-bound A320 aircraft, which had 184 people on board, later returned to the bay. The people were safely deboarded, the sources said.

A video on Twitter showed one of the plane's engines on fire and sparks flying at the time of taxiing at the airport.

The incident took place at around 10 pm.

In a statement, IndiGo said the aircraft operating flight 6E2131 from Delhi to Bengaluru experienced an engine stall during take off roll. "The take off was aborted and the aircraft safely returned to the bay. All passengers are being accommodated on an alternate aircraft," the statement said.

Delhi police officials said the control room at the airport received a call from the CISF control room regarding fire in engine of the IndiGo plane.

The plane had 177 passengers and seven crew members. Later, passengers were safely deboarded, they added.

According to the sources, the pilot of a SpiceJet plane that was behind the IndiGo aircraft in the line up while taxiing alerted the Air Traffic Controller about the fire in the engine.