False fire alarm forces IndiGo pilots to declare emergency mid-air, land back at Chennai airport

New Delhi: Pilots flying the IndiGoNSE -1.25 %’s Chennai-Kuwait flight declared emergency in the early hours of Friday and landed back at the Chennai airport soon after the departure due to a fire alarm, which later turned out to be false, said a source. The A320neo plane had taken off around 1.20 am with more than 160 passengers.

Just 15 minutes after the departure, the pilots observed a fire alarm and immediately relayed the emergency code 7700 to all Air Traffic Controls, said a source privy to the development.

The fire alarm was later found to be because of faulty smoke detectors in cargo compartment, the source said.

A spokesperson of the airline said, “IndiGo A320 was operating Chennai-Kuwait 6E-1751. After take-off from Chennai, the pilot observed a momentary message of the smoke detector in the cargo compartment.”