The passengers aboard the domestic flight, operated by commercial carrier SpiceJet, were evacuated safely once the pilot returned to Patna airport shortly after take-off.
“The flight returned to Patna airport after locals (on the ground) noticed a fire on the left wing of the aircraft and informed airport officials,” district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told reporters.
“All 185 passengers were safely deboarded. Reason for the fire is a technical glitch. The engineering team is analysing,” Singh added.
A passenger told reporters that there was a lot of noise heard on board the plane in the first 15 minutes after take-off. “The pilot announced there was some problem and that we would be going back to Patna…. it was quite scary,” said Pacifica, who gave only one name.
A bird hitting the engine may have sparked the fire, local news broadcaster NDTV quoted aviation sources as saying.
The no-frills SpiceJet airline has been in the news in recent weeks, with aviation authorities imposing a fine of one million Indian rupees for training its Boeing 737 MAX pilots on a faulty simulator.
