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Air India flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad makes emergency return after midair smoke alert

NEW DELHI: An Air India flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad returned to the Indira Gandhi International Airport shortly after take-off on Thursday night due to a smoke indication in the cargo hold. Flight A1 2939, an Airbus A320, took off from IGI at 4.44 pm. The cockpit alerted the pilots to smoke in the cargo hold, prompting them to steer the aircraft back to the airport on an emergency basis at 5.13 pm, according to flightaware.com. Fire tenders and ambulances were stationed at the airport after Air Traffic Control cleared the return. Passengers and crew were safely evacuated. After thorough technical checks, the smoke alarm was found to be false. The indication in the cockpit is designed to alert the flight captain to take urgent safety measures in such situations.