Second alternate flight from Karachi to Dubai by SpiceJet

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Second alternate flight from Karachi to Dubai by SpiceJet

An alternate aircraft of Indian budget airline Spice Jet flew to Dubai from Karachi's Jinnah International Airport on Tuesday night, ending a wait of nearly 11 hours for 138 passengers who were stranded in Karachi after taking off from New Delhi in the morning.

SpiceJet's Delhi-Dubai flight was diverted to Karachi as the fuel indicator started malfunctioning. The Boeing 737 Max aircraft made an emergency landing at Karachi Airport at around 9: 15 am after the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authorities allowed the Indian plane to land at Jinnah International Airport on humanitarian grounds.

An official from the Civil Aviation Authority said the Indian carrier had sent an alternate aircraft SG 9911 from Mumbai to Dubai, which took off at around 9: 20 pm.

The Pakistani Airlines engineers worked with the Spice Jet crew to find and correct the technical fault in the aircraft, the official said. The passengers were shifted to the transit lounge and provided all the hospitality including food and refreshments.

He said there was a problem with the aircraft's light indicator and it couldn't be repaired immediately and it didn't get clearance from the engineers, so another aircraft was sent from Mumbai.

In March last year, an Indigo Indian Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing at the Karachi airport after a passenger complained of chest pain and fell ill.

The flight from Sharjah-Lucknow left for its destination, but doctors who came on board couldn't save the passenger who passed away from a cardiac arrest.

After SpiceJet's Delhi-Dubai flight suffered a mid-air malfunction, cracks developed on the windshield of another budget carrier at a height of 23,000 feet, forcing a priority landing in Mumbai in a double whammy for the airline.

The total number of technical malfunction incidents involving SpiceJet aircraft has gone up to seven in the last 17 days because of the two episodes on a single day.