Kolkata: A Bhubaneswar-bound packed Air India Express aircraft from Kolkata returned to the airport to make emergency landing around an hour after the take-off following a snag. The flyers claimed that they had heard an explosion-like sound mid-air.
The Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Bengaluru flight I5 1563 had taken off at 5.10pm, more than 40 mins from its scheduled departure time.The take-off was smooth, but according to passengers, around 5.40 pm, when the flight was in the air, they heard a sound of something bursting.
Passengers said, after some tense moments, there was an announcement from the pilot of a “technical snag” in the aircraft engine as he said that he was taking the flight back to Kolkata for emergency check. The flight landed at Kolkata airport at 6.05pm.
At the terminal, the airline staff had difficulty in calming down the passengers for sometime before they were able to arrange a separate flight for them. The new flight with all the passengers took off at 8pm.