'Full emergency' declared at Delhi airport as SpiceJet flight to Leh turns back mid-air after engine malfunction

A SpiceJet flight carrying about 150 passengers on its way from New Delhi to Leh had to turn back shortly after take‑off on Tuesday when a technical problem was spotted mid‑air, airline officials said.

The Boeing 737 aircraft, operating as flight SG121, made a safe return to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, and all passengers were disembarked normally with no injuries reported.

The crew detected an issue with one of the engines soon after departure, leading them to call off the flight as a precaution. The problem appeared to involve a malfunction in the plane’s second engine, leading the pilots to head back to Delhi rather than continue to the high‑altitude destination of Leh.

A SpiceJet spokesperson told PTI that a technical snag led to the aircraft’s return. “The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers were disembarked normally,” the airline said in a statement, adding that the plane was being inspected and alternate arrangements for travellers were expected.

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Additionally, a full emergency was declared at Delhi airport when the SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Leh had to return because of a problem with one of its engines, reported the Hindustan Times.

Leh’s terrain and weather require aircraft to be in top operational condition, making reliability especially important on this route.

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In another development, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed review petitions filed by the customs department, which sought to impose retrospective integrated goods and services tax (IGST) on aircraft and aircraft parts brought back into India after overseas repairs. The ruling comes as a relief for InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet.

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A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and KV Viswanathan said that after reviewing the petitions and related documents, it found no apparent error or sufficient reason to revisit its earlier decision, and therefore dismissed the pleas.

Back in July, the apex court had already rejected the department’s appeal. The customs department had argued that a 2021 amended notification should apply retrospectively, overriding a 2017 exemption notification. The bench had noted at the time that if the 2017 notification did not include IGST, the government could not use the 2021 amendment to impose the tax retroactively.