A balloon grounded an Air India flight with 188 passengers on board at the Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday. Officials said the balloon got stuck in the engine of the Delhi to Srinagar flight, forcing it to be called back. All the passengers were marked safe on landing.
According to senior airport officials, it was around 10:44 am, when the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) was informed by the Air Traffic Control that a full emergency has been declared on an Air India flight AI-825, that had departed from the IGI at 10.20 am for Srinagar.
"The AOCC informed that the emergency has been declared after a balloon got stuck in one of the engines of the plane. Later, at 10.56 am, the said flight along with 188 passengers on-board, safely landed on runway 28/10 of the IGI airport," said a senior officer, adding that the emergency was called off at 11:14 am.
Following the incident, a sanitation drive was also conducted within the airport premises to ensure that no such items, hazardous for the taking off and landing aircrafts, are in the vicinity. "The balloon got stuck in the 24th minute of the flight's journey, post of take off," the officer added.
In a similar close shave reported in December last year, a balloon-like UFO and an Air India flight landing at the IGI airport almost had a face off, triggering the pilot to immediately report the matter to the Air Traffic Control. Seconds after this, another flight to Leh that took off from another runway at IGI, also reported spotting the flying object. The ATC immediately alerted the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) which roped in the CISF and Delhi Police. The incident also affected some departures and landings.
These, however, are not the only incidents where such a UFO has been spotted near the airport. Three incidents came to light in 2016 when UFOs were spotted near the IGI airport, sending security agencies into tizzy. On March 31 one such flying object was spotted over apron area of IGI airport, but disappeared before security forces could arrive. Earlier on March 13 a balloon like structure was spotted close to an operational runway at the airport and prior to that on January 27 another unidentified item was spotted flying in the vicinity of the airport, but could not be traced.
In 2015 also two such incidents were reported when on October 27 a suspicious object was spotted over runway 29 by the ATC officials and three days later again on Oct 30 a flying object was spotted over runway 27, thrice before it completely disappeared.
UFO MENACE AT IGI
- March 31, 2016 - UFO spotted over apron area of IGI airport. Disappears before security forces arrive
- March 13, 2016 - A balloon-like structure spotted close to an operational runway at the Delhi airport
- January 27, 2016 - Another unidentified item spotted flying in the vicinity of the airport, but could not be traced
- October 30, 2015 - A UFO spotted over runway 27, thrice before it completely disappeared
- Oct 27, 2015 - Another suspicious object spotted over runway 29 by the ATC officials
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