New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Operating crews of 23 flights have declared 'emergency' since January 2020, with Indigo leading the tally at 11, parliament was told on Thursday.

In a written reply to a question from BJP MP Varun Gandhi, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh (retd) in Lok Sabha said that in 19 cases, the affected components were replaced after the landing of the aircraft.

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Three emergency landings resulted from weather diversion, and one emergency landing was due to bird hit.

Air Asia, Air India, and Alliance Air had one emergency landing each in 2020, while Indigo had four emergency landings that year.

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In 2021, AIXL and SpiceJet had two emergency landings, while Indigo had five. In 2022, Air India had one emergency landing, AIXL, SpiceJet, and Indigo had two emergency landings each.

"Such occurrences are thoroughly analysed and their severity is determined. Based on the severity, occurrences are investigated. No violation has been found in these occurrences," Singh said.

He said operators maintain their aircraft as per manufacturer guidelines.

"In case of an event such as an emergency landing caused due to a failed aircraft system, the system is rectified based on approved maintenance programme and aircraft is released for service.

“DGCA, through their Annual Surveillance Plan, carries out surveillance and spot checks to ensure that aircraft are maintained as per manufacturer guidelines," Singh informed the House.

He added that based on the outcome of DGCA investigation, circulars were issued to prevent the recurrence of emergency landing due to weather diversion.

In response to another question by DMK MP A K P Chinraj on flight malfunction and smoke detected in the cabin of airlines, Singh said 13 instances were reported of smoke in the cabin of scheduled airlines' aircraft from 2019 till date.

He said these were primarily due to system or component malfunction and other factors such as bird strike, lightning strike, and passenger mobiles.

"Such occurrences are thoroughly analysed, and severity is determined. Based on the severity, occurrences are investigated. No violation of prescribed norms/ Civil Aviation Requirements was found in these instances," he said.

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