The flight, which took off from New Delhi on Sunday evening,was overflying Kolkata  at 37,000 ft when the commander noticed a tiny spot on its windscreen. Upon detail inspection by the co-pilot, it was found that it was a crack and could turn dangerous if the journey was not immediately aborted.

The pilot contacted the air traffic control in Kolkata and sought immediate landing permission which was granted without any delay. A full emergency was declared at the airport. The plane landed safely here at around 0500 hrs on Monday.

The aircraft was grounded and another aircraft of the airlines was flown in from Bangalore to take the stranded passengers to their destination at around 1100 hrs.