Chennai: A Singapore-bound Scoot Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Chennai international airport early on Monday, authorities said. The plane, which departed from Tiruchy, landed after the pilots received a smoke warning in the aircraft’s cargo from the automated alarm system.
According to sources, in the early hours of Monday, Flyscoot pilots got a smoke warning at around 3.40 am after the flight SCO 567, carrying 165 passengers and 7 cabin crew, had departed from Tiruchy airport at 1.30 am.
The pilot had immediately requested an emergency landing, which was granted by the ATC, following which the aircraft landed in Chennai airport and was asked to park in the cargo area.
A team of 60 firefighters were ready on the ground when the flight landed in Chennai. No mishap occurred while landing, airport sources said. The airline, which is Singapore Airlines budget wing, tried to fix the fault but at around 6 am all the passengers were offloaded and later lodged in a hotel.
The airline said in a statement, “Scoot flight TR567, operating Tiruchirappalli-Singapore on 20 May 2019, diverted to Chennai International Airport, as a precaution, due to a cargo smoke
warning trigger. The aircraft landed safely in Chennai at approximately 3.41am local time. The aircraft has been grounded for investigations and preliminary assessment indicates a false warning. Scoot will mount a replacement flight to Chennai, subject to regulatory approval, to transport customers back to Singapore. The flight will depart Chennai on 20 May 2019 at 3.30 pm local time. Hotel accommodation and meals have been arranged for customers in Chennai. The safety of our customers is of Scoot’s highest consideration. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
