A Patna-Delhi IndiGo flight with 181 passengers and eight crew members onboard made an emergency landing at Patna airport around half an hour after it took off on Friday.

The flight took off at its scheduled departure time of 8.40am from Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport in Patna and was to reach Delhi at 10.15am. However, the pilot noticed that one of the two engines of the aircraft was not working.

“IndiGo Airlines’ Patna-Delhi flight 6E2433 reported one engine inoperative three minutes after its departure. The aircraft landed safely at 9.11am. According to the pilot, no further assistance was required. All operations at the airport are normal,” Patna airport director Anchal Prakash said.

He added that the airlines assured them of accommodating all the travellers on a separate flight.

Videos of passengers profusely thanking the cabin crew and the pilot while alighting from the aircraft surfaced after the flight made a safe landing at the Patna airport.

Many of them shared the tension and worry they had to undergo when the flight was forced to return to the airport. Neeraj Agarwal, the managing trustee of CIMAGE College, Patna, was one such passenger.

“The pilot announced around 20 minutes after the takeoff that the flight will have to return to Patna. All the air hostesses came and asked us to catch hold of the front seat and place our heads between our hands. We were hearing loud noises and experiencing turbulence. There was tension for around 15 minutes…,” Agarwal said.

“The landing was not easy. The flight attendants were screaming to put our heads down during the landing. People were praying. The flight landed with a heavy jolt,” he added.

Airport Authority of India officials said that the stranded passengers were sent on a flight that left at 12.08pm and reached Delhi at 1.46pm.