IndiGo plane suffered engine stall; surge in airflow cause of fire: Report

An IndiGo plane, which aborted take off at the Delhi airport on Friday night, had suffered "engine stall" leading to a surge in the airflow resulting in a momentary fire in the engine exhaust, according to DGCA sources.

A loud bang was also heard following a warning of the failure of an engine of the aircraft, which was to fly to Bengaluru with 184 people on board. There was no injury to any person on board the aircraft, sources at the regulator said.

The A320 ceo aircraft VT-IFM operating flight 6E-2131 aborted takeoff at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here due to a fire in one of its engines. The plane returned to the bay and passengers were deboarded safely.

Videos posted in social media showed fire in one of the plane's engines and sparks flying before the takeoff was aborted.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident that happened at around 10 pm on Friday.

The investigation so far has revealed that "no. 2 engine stall" occurred leading to surging of the airflow in the engine. Due to the surge, momentary fire was seen in the engine exhaust, the sources said.

The sources also said the crew used one fire extinguisher bottle in no.2 engine to extinguish the fire.

Earlier in the day, DGCA chief Arun Kumar said the regulator will take suitable follow-up action after conducting a detailed probe into the incident.

"The priority is to carry out a detailed investigation of the incident and ascertain the reasons for the fire in the engine. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished swiftly and the aircraft is now grounded," he said.

He also said the engine that caught fire was an IAEV2500. It was manufactured by IAE International Aero Engines AG.

"DGCA will do a detailed study to check whether there have been any such incidents pertaining to these engines before. After the investigation, suitable follow-up action will be taken," he said.

Soon after the incident that took place around 10 pm on Friday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said officials concerned at DGCA have been directed to "look into this and furnish a report at the earliest".

In a statement issued early Saturday morning, IndiGo said the aircraft experienced a technical issue while on take off roll, immediately after which the pilot aborted the takeoff and the aircraft safely returned to the bay. All passengers and crew are safe and an alternate aircraft was arranged to operate the flight, which took off at 12.16 am on Saturday, it added.