Smoke spreads panic on Vizag bound plane

Panic gripped passengers of a Delhi-Visakhapatnam IndiGo flight after smoke was detected inside the cabin mid-air, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place enroute to Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. This forced the pilot to return to Delhi and make an emergency landing.

There were 170 passengers on board the flight, which initially took off from Delhi at 5:20 pm. Within 10 minutes the plane returned to base after one of the crew members detected smoke inside the cabin.

Officials said there was also a drop in pressure inside the cabin after which oxygen masks were automatically deployed.

According to the airline, there was a "false alarm" over burning smell in the cabin and this led to the "precautionary landing".

"IndiGo flight 6E-719 (Delhi-Visakhapatnam) carried out a precautionary landing at Delhi yesterday due to a false alarm. After take-off from Delhi, the cabin crew advised flight crew about burning smell in the cabin. Keeping the safety and security of passengers in mind, the captain-in-command informed the ATC and carried out a precautionary landing at Delhi," it said.

The airline said, "No oil leakages or electrical burn residues were identified" during checking.