Indigo's Lucknow-Delhi Airbus A320 6E-2111 flight takeoff aborted

LUCKNOW, Sept 14: A potentially catastrophic aviation accident was narrowly avoided when an IndiGo flight for Delhi aborted takeoff from Lucknow at the last moment due to a technical snag on Saturday morning. Nobody was injured.

The flight 6E-2111 was accelerating down the runway around 11 am when it failed to lift off.

The aircraft was carrying 151 passengers, including Samajwadi Party MP and wife of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, and six crew.

The passengers were safely deboarded and later transferred to an alternative flight to Delhi.

Eyewitnesses and airport officials praised the captain’s swift decision-making, which prevented what could have been a serious accident. Despite the aircraft reaching high speed on the runway, the pilot managed to bring it to a halt without incident. No injuries were reported, and the situation was handled with calm professionalism.

The pilot likely detected insufficient thrust just before reaching the lift-off point on the runway.

“The safety of our passengers is our highest priority. The aircraft was stopped as a precaution after a potential issue was detected during the takeoff roll,” IndiGo said in an official statement.

The flight was operated by Airbus A320 equipped with: CFM56 or Pratt & Whitney engines, autobrake and spoiler systems for rejected takeoff scenarios, thrust reversers and advanced cockpit alerts that help pilots detect anomalies like insufficient thrust.

Technical details: Aborting a takeoff after throttling up at high speed close to Vr rotation speed (as it happened in the present case)—that is the aircraft is still on the ground—is one of the most complex manoeuvres not every pilot can perform as the runway is exhausted. However, there is still hope here, but not in the second stage of takeoff when it is airborne and you have to crash.

There are two stages in takeoff, straddling Vr ie ground and flight: One, an accelerating takeoff roll on the runway and two, after lifting off the ground at rotation till what we call as initial climbout when gears and the flaps are retreated. Partly a runway roll event and partly an airborne transition. Together, takeoff constitutes the most crucial stage in flying, that air travellers too must acquaint themselves with.

The pilot succeeded in slamming the brake fully probably because he likely had the autobrake previously set to “MAX” before takeoff roll began. It gives maximum force if and when he aborts. He would also have deployed the spoilers and the thrust reversers (in combination with wheel brakes) as the aircraft was still not airborne and the runway portion left was short. Whatever, his acumen and presence of mind saved over a hundred lives.

Engine failure in the takeoff stage after lift-off till climbout has no alternative than crash. Take the case of the recent Air India tragedy. The pilots tried their level best. Because so many obstacles are on the way—the surroundings, for instance. Even the most brilliant use of physics will not help the pilots because there is not enough altitude to glide unlike the Hudson river landing.