NEW DELHI, July 17: In the wake of the twin engine failure of the London-bound Air India flight leading to crash immediately after take-off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12 killing 274 people, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revealed that on an average failure of in-flight one engine shutdown has been reported by the domestic fliers in the country in the last five years.
The civil aviation watchdog also pointed out that in all these cases of one engine failures, the pilots landed the flights safely without any hiccups. The information was obtained from the DGCA under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
It said India Recorded 65 cases of in-flight engine shutdowns over the past five years. The data provided by the DGCA noted that in all these incidents between 2020 and 2025, involved pilots successfully landed the aircraft with the help of the unaffected engine. These figures point to an average of nearly one such incident occurring every month on Indian-operated flights.
The Report highlighted that in the 17-month period from January 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025, cockpit crews issued 11 “Mayday” distress calls due to Technical Failures, requesting emergency Landings. Out of the 11 calls recorded, four flights landed in Hyderabad after encountering technical problems, the data showed.
According to Secretary of the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA) Anil Rao, pilots declare Mayday only in life-threatening situations such as engine failure, on-board fires, or any emergency that makes it unsafe to continue flying. In such cases, crews are trained to request immediate landing or grounding of the aircraft to avoid further risk.
(Subham Singh)
