A technical snag on a SpiceJet flight resulted in the delay of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's trip to attend the Prime Minister’s event in Kanniyakumari today. According to sources, Palaniswami took a flight to Thoothukudi at 7.50 am, but the aircraft returned to Chennai soon after take-off and made an emergency landing, allegedly due to a technical snag. Even as attempts were made to fix the snag for over an hour, they failed. Airport sources said the flight had on board 78 passengers and five crew members. The pilot noticed a technical snag while the flight was airborne, and returned to Chennai and made an emergency landing at 8.35 am.
Following the incident, the Chief Minister took an Indigo flight to Madurai along with other passengers, at 9.10 am. The remaining 73 passengers were stranded in Chennai airport and the authorities were making arrangements to accommodate them in other flights. Senior airport officials have launched an inquiry into the incident, reports said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kanniyakumari to inaugurate the Tejas Express between Madurai and Chennai Egmore and also unveil the highway projects worthe Rs 2,995 crore. The AIADMK and the BJP recently signed alliance pact for Lok Sabha elections, it may be recalled.
