A SpiceJet aircraft flying to Dubai from Delhi had to be diverted to Karachi on Tuesday after a malfunctioning indicator light, an airline spokesperson said.

The airline said that the plane landed in Karachi and the passengers disembarked safely. However, no emergency was declared.

The spokesperson said, “On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi - Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked.”

“No emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft. Passengers have been served refreshments. A replacement aircraft is being sent to Karachi that will take the passengers to Dubai,” the airlines said.

The pilots on board the aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, had indicators of a possible fuel leak from one of the tanks in the wings of the jet.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, “the crew observed unusual fuel quantity reduction.”

The fuel display in the cockpit indicated an unexpected loss of fuel from the aircraft which required the pilot to make a landing in Karachi. This was a precautionary landing and not an emergency one, the airline reiterated.

A fleet-wide safety audit of SpiceJet aircrafts was conducted last month by the aviation regulator and it continues to do so on a case to case basis.

This comes after the pilot of SpiceJet Q400 airliner which was flying from Delhi to Jabalpur, made a ‘May Day’ distress call and returned to Delhi following smoke in the cabin.

The aircraft was at an altitude of 5,000 feet when the crew first noticed the smoke which triggered the smoke alarm.

The smoke increased in the cabin after the flight reached 14,000 feet after which the pilot made the distress call and returned to Delhi.

All passengers were safely evacuated upon landing. Further, a Delhi-bound SpiceJet aircraft with 185 passengers made an emergency landing in Patna as its left engine caught fire after a bird hit on June 19.