The news of one of the aircrafts of a private airline SpiceJet catching fire mid-air had made headlines. An environment of fire and panic was created among the 185 passengers who were on board the aircraft. However, little did they know that they were in the safe hands of pilot Monica Khanna and first officer Balpreet Singh Bhatia.
Fire Visual From Inside Spicejet Plane.#SpiceJet pic.twitter.com/fbZuiVyB1p
— Sandeep Panwar (@tweet_sandeep) June 19, 2022
As reported by Times Now, the aircraft in question took off from Patna to Delhi on 19 June. However, moments into the air, it experienced an engine fire.
When the cockpit crew suspected something fishy, they decided to shut down the affected engine as a precautionary measure and returned to Patna.
As a precautionary measure and as per SOP, Captain shutdown the affected engine and decided to return to Patna. The aircraft landed safely in Patna and passengers were safely deboarded. Post flight inspection showed bird hit with 3 fan blades damaged. <<
— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) June 19, 2022
After inspection, it was found out that one of the engines of the flight caught fire after being hit by a bird which is why the Delhi-bound SpiceJet Boeing 737 flight had to make an emergency landing in Patna after hovering for several minutes.
#WATCH Patna-Delhi SpiceJet flight safely lands at Patna airport after catching fire mid-air, all 185 passengers safe#Bihar pic.twitter.com/vpnoXXxv3m
— ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2022
Taking control of this tricky situation was pilot Monica Khanna who didn’t lose her calm and safely landed the 200 people on board the flight.
Economic Times quoted Gurcharan Arora, SpiceJet chief of flight operations saying, “Captain Monika Khanna and first officer Balpreet Singh Bhatia conducted themselves well during the incident. They were calm throughout and handled the aircraft well.”
“When the plane landed, only a single-engine was working. Engineers inspected the aircraft after the incident. It was confirmed that the fan blade and engine had been damaged by a bird hit. DGCA will investigate further. They are experienced officers and we are proud of them.”
Aviation experts and people online hailed the courageous and calm pilot Monica Khanna for promptly taking the decision and swiftly and safely landing all the passengers and crew members in Patna.
The hero of the day is Captain Monika Khanna! With her excellent skills she saved over 150 lives today when the plane she was flying caught fire post take off.
Kudos to her courage. Cheers. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/wzeSyb8lxC
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) June 19, 2022
Woman of the moment!!
Captain Monica Khanna,
the pilot in command of the SpiceJet Limited flight SG723.#WellDone#CaptainMonicaKhanna pic.twitter.com/ioYyYuNQI5— Dr. Jyothi Chowdary (@Doctor_Jyothi) June 20, 2022
We Are Really Proud Of #CaptainMonicaKhanna ✈️✈️✈️Whose Timely Act Saved Many Lives!!..Thank You And God Bless Captain Monica Khanna!!..🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/qNlxQZhvSF
— Shubhomoy Guha (@guha_shubhomoy) June 20, 2022
Let us Salute Pilot Captain Monica Khanna for saving 191 passenger's life from an emergency landing
Hats of to youu mam
🇮🇳भारत माता की जय 🇮🇳#MonicaKhanna#CaptainMonicaKhanna #MonicaKhanna— Raj S Rao (Manu Rao) (@Manurao06) June 20, 2022
Captain Monica khanna, the pilot in command today who saved 185 souls on board Boeing 737 operated by spice jet today at Patna!!! pic.twitter.com/xL3vXraT0a
— Emon Mukherjee (@EmonMukherjee21) June 19, 2022
Thank you Captain Monica Khanna, she was the pilot in command of the SpiceJet flight SG723 that caught a fire in the engine after take-off yesterday. She landed the plane at a highly constrained Patna airfield very skillfully & saved lives of 200 passengers. #NariShakti pic.twitter.com/eJmLWFUoXw
— Dr Gaurav Garg (@DrGauravGarg4) June 20, 2022
Major tragedy averted. Engine of #Patna #Delhi #SpiceJet flight SG725 with 185 passengers onboard caught fire soon after taking off from Patna airport. The pilot mid air took u turn, did emergency landing at Patna Airport.All passengers are safe. Big thank you to the pilots & ATC pic.twitter.com/l8TD38xfIy
— Tamal Saha (@Tamal0401) June 19, 2022
Meet Captain Monica khanna who saved 185 lives on board Boeing 737 operated by spice jet at Patna!
Salute to Brave Girl👏👏#WomenPower@ActorMadhavan @ShefVaidya @Tiny_Dhillon @rwac48 @atahasnain53 @jkd18 pic.twitter.com/iHNenTKib6
— Rahul Pandit (@IMRahul_Pandit) June 20, 2022
Kudos to Monica, first officer Balpreet Singh Bhatia, the ATC, cabin crew, and the support staff of the airline for handling the situation so well.
Image source: right