Just as breakdowns are becoming common among vehicles on the road, technical problems are increasingly cropping up in aircraft flying overhead as well, leaving passengers anxious until they safely reach their destination. In a fresh incident today, an unexpected development caused a stir at Chennai International Airport when a Malaysia Airlines flight (MH156), travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, suddenly developed a technical snag mid-air, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Chennai airport. The aircraft, an Airbus A330-200, reportedly had a total of 186 people on board, including passengers and crew.
Following the technical issue, an emergency situation had to be declared at Chennai airport as the plane came in to land. Originally scheduled to arrive at 4:40 pm on Monday, the flight touched down safely on the runway a few minutes later, at 4:44 pm. Authorities took precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident, averting a major mishap and ensuring the aircraft landed safely. After the engine issue was subsequently rectified, the flight departed again. Speaking to the media about the incident, a senior Chennai airport official said that although it was a fairly delicate situation, the landing went smoothly because the pilots handled it with presence of mind, adding that all passengers on board were completely safe.