IndiGo's Delhi-Mumbai Airbus Makes Emergency Landing In Rajkot After Smoke Warning From Cargo Hold

An IndiGo flight carrying 194 people from Dubai to Mumbai was forced to make an emergency landing at Rajkot International Airport on Monday afternoon after the flight crew detected smoke in the aircraft’s cargo hold area.

The aircraft, an Airbus A321 registered as VT-NCV and operating as flight 6E-1452, landed safely under full emergency protocols. All passengers and crew members were evacuated securely with no reported injuries.

According to officials at Rajkot International Airport, the pilot alerted Air Traffic Control (ATC) after an onboard warning indicated smoke in the lower cargo compartment. A full emergency was officially declared at 2.45pm, forcing the local authorities to immediately mobilise emergency response teams, lining the tarmac with safety vehicles in anticipation of the touchdown.

"A major call was issued at Rajkot Airport with immediate effect. Around 70 ambulances, nursing staff, doctors and firefighters were kept on standby at the airport," confirmed Rajkot district collector Om Prakash.

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The twin-engine narrowbody jet completed its descent without further incident, touching down on Rajkot's runway at 3.27pm -- 42 minutes after the emergency was initiated. Following the safe landing, the Airbus A321 was grounded immediately for a thorough technical inspection and engineering clearance.

In an official statement, IndiGo downplayed the immediate operational risk while assuring that customer support was active on the ground. It said that the flight was diverted to Rajkot "as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue." The airline spokesperson said that all the passengers had safely deboarded the aircraft after a safe landing and the aircraft was under inspection before it was cleared to resume operations. 

The airline said that an alternate aircraft was being arranged to complete the journey and the ground staff was assisting the passengers by making all necessary arrangements to ease the waiting time. The forward flight to Mumbai was estimated to depart at 7.30pm and reach Mumbai at 8.20pm.

While an alternate ferry aircraft is being positioned to transport the stranded passengers onward to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, air safety regulators and aviation maintenance engineers are carrying out a standard investigation to determine whether the cargo warning was triggered by an active thermal event or a false sensor alarm.