Air India emergency landing: Relief plane reaches Nawabshah

NEW DELHI: Hours after an Air India plane with 128 people onboard made an emergency landing at Nawabshah airport in Pakistan, a relief plane from India has reached there to bring the passengers back. The stranded passengers and crew are expected to be back by 4 pm.

A team of engineers was also on board the relief plane to rectify the technical glitch that forced the emergency landing of the plane at 3.37 early this morning.

The pilot of the Air India flight AI940, which was on its way from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi, detected a problem with the plane’s hydraulic system while it was flying over Pakistani air space. He then contacted the Pakistani authorities and sought permission for an emergency landing.

All 122 passengers and six crew members on board the Airbus 319 aircraft are safe, according to officials.

The pilot was granted permission to land the aircraft at the Nawabshah Airport in Sindh province, southern Pakistan.

"The aircraft was flying over Pakistani air space when the pilot saw a warning light in the cockpit and sought permission to land at the nearest airport which was Nawabshah," an Air India spokesperson said in New Delhi.

As per reports, all three hydraulic systems of the Airbus 319 had failed - one of the rarest of rare incidents in modern jets like the A-320 family of jets – forcing the pilot to land the plane manually.

The stranded passengers were offered lounge facilities by the airport officials but the pilot decided against de-boarding, apparently over security concerns. Moreover, the facilities available at the airport are also limited.

AI940 was originally scheduled to arrive at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 5.15 am.

"Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai is in touch with the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal, who is in contact with the pilot," sources in MEA said in New Delhi.

The pilot has informed that the condition on the plane is "reasonable", they said.

Pakistan Defence Secretary Nargis Sethi directed the civil aviation authorities to provide all assistance to passengers and crew of the Air India plane.