Bengaluru: An IndiGo flight travelling from Doha to Bengaluru declared a Mayday emergency and diverted to Muscat, Oman, on Thursday after one of its operating pilots became incapacitated mid-air. Flight 6E 1302, operated by an Airbus A320neo, landed safely at Muscat International Airport, where waiting emergency medical teams immediately attended to the crew member.
IndiGo confirmed the diversion in an official statement, noting that the medical team treated the affected personnel on landing and that the crew member’s condition has since improved. The airline mobilized a replacement aircraft alongside a fresh flight crew to fly the stranded passengers onward to Bengaluru. Travellers waiting in Muscat were provided with refreshments and continuous status updates, with the carrier reiterating that the safety of passengers, crew, and aircraft remains its topmost priority.
The diversion follows a sequence of recent operational snags involving the carrier across domestic routes. Just two days earlier, a Goa-to-Delhi IndiGo flight was forced to make an emergency return shortly after departure due to suspected engine trouble. That incident marked the airline’s second technical issue in less than a month, following an August 11 approach emergency in Chennai when a Kolkata-originating flight experienced a snag in its left engine.
These incidents occur as domestic aviation authorities face increased regulatory scrutiny ahead of an international safety review. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation recently completed comprehensive safety audits across Indian carriers—including IndiGo, Air India, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet—uncovering several notable compliance findings. The audits precede an impending review by a five-member team from the United States Federal Aviation Administration, which assesses whether India’s civil aviation oversight continues to meet global Category 1 safety standards under the International Aviation Safety Assessment program.
