Indigo plane tilts mid-air; aviation regulator DGCA initiates probe

New Delhi: Passengers of an IndiGo flight from Hyderabad to Port Blair experienced anxious moments on Tuesday as the A320 neo aircraft tilted mid-air. Aviation regulator DGCA is looking into the incident, which is the latest in a series of issues involving IndiGo’s fleet powered with Pratt & Whitney engines. After it tilted to one side mid-air, the pilot managed to balance the aircraft, a senior DGCA official told PTI.

In technical jargon, the aircraft suffered “yawing,” said an avionics expert. Now, the regulator will ask for the flight’s Digital Flight Data Recorder to assess the angle of tilt and fix responsibility for the incident, an official said. Generally, yaw motion is side-to-side movement of an aircraft’s nose and can result in asymmetrical lift on the wings.

‘‘The pilot’s report, too, says the aircraft yawed. Now, the angle or the degree of the yaw is to be determined and that would reveal the seriousness of the matter. We have already started our investigation,” the official noted. The number of passengers on board could not be ascertained. A320 neo plane has more than 180 seats. In a statement, the IndiGo spokesperson said that neither its Hyderabad-Port Blair flight, 6E-293, had any emergency landing nor was there any mid-air engine failure.