Alliance Air Mumbai-Bhuj Flight’s Engine Cover Falls Off During Take-Off, DGCA Orders Probe

The DGCA said that the flight had landed without any further damage to the aircraft.

Mumbai: An Alliance Air flight with 70 onboard on Wednesday took off from Mumbai and flew to Gujarat without its engine cover. As per the details, the cowl fell off on the runway at the airport while the flight was preparing to take off. Even though, the flight landed safely at the Bhuj airport, a probe has been initiated into the incident against the airlines by the DGCA. The 70 people on the aircraft included four crew members and one aircraft maintenance engineer. 

The matter was reported by the Mumbai Air traffic controller (ATC) soon after the flight took off. Talking about the incident, the Mumbai airport said the Alliance Air was scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Bhuj, while the aircraft’s engine cowl fell on the runway and took off without an engine cover. The images shared by news agency ANI showed the plane without its engine cowl.

“The ATR72-600 aircraft VT RKJ, operating flight 9I-625 (Mumbai-Bhuj), was involved in an incident where the engine cowl separated and was recovered on the runway at Mumbai. The Alliance Air flight was from Mumbai to Bhuj, and took off without an engine cover,” a Mumbai airport official was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

An Alliance Air ATR aircraft landed safely at Bhuj from Mumbai after a part of the engine cowling fell down during take-off this morning. The flight had taken off from Mumbai. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated an inquiry. pic.twitter.com/gEdH0nN5Dn

— ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2022

As per the reports, the flight, however, landed safely at the Bhuj airport. According to details, the four-year-old aircraft had taken off at 6:30 AM, shortly after which the cowl, which protects the engine from foreign objects and other elements, was spotted by a witness. The DGCA said that the flight had landed without any further damage to the aircraft.

Speaking to TOI, Captain Amit Singh, who happens to be an air safety expert, stated that an incident of this nature could’ve happened possibly after the maintenance crew removed cowling for regular pre-flight check-ups or repairs. He, however, blamed poor maintenance work for the incident.

Giving details, he said if Mumbai ATC had informed the pilot right away, the flight would’ve ideally landed back at the Mumbai airport.

Sources in the DGCA told NDTV that the loss of the engine cowling (cover) was unlikely to have had a major impact on the aircraft which continued to fly to its destination. They further added that there could have been a ”marginal aircraft performance deterioration”and ”engine components exposed to airflow may be impacted.”