New Delhi: A Zurich-bound Swiss International Air Lines flight carrying 232 passengers was forced to abort its takeoff at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi early Sunday morning. The aircraft, an Airbus A330 operating as flight LX147, was accelerating on the runway just after 1:00 a.m. local time when a significant technical issue occurred with one of the engines. Sources at the airport reported seeing smoke billowing from the port side of the landing gear, prompting the flight crew to immediately reject the takeoff and initiate a full emergency response.
The airline confirmed that there were 228 passengers and four infants on board at the time of the incident. Following a rapid assessment of the situation, the crew decided to evacuate the aircraft as a precautionary measure using emergency slides. While the majority of the passengers were safely evacuated, six individuals are currently undergoing medical evaluation for injuries sustained during the process. For those unable to navigate the slides, ground crews eventually provided stairs to facilitate a safer exit from the plane.
Swiss has dispatched a team of technical specialists to Delhi to conduct a thorough inspection of the aircraft and determine the exact cause of the engine malfunction. The airline released a statement expressing regret for the disruption and stated that teams are working “intensively” to arrange alternative travel solutions for the stranded passengers. This is the second major aviation incident at Delhi airport this weekend, following the cancellation of an Air India flight to Indore due to separate technical failures on Saturday.
