Flight makes emergency landing in Goa after losing an engine

Passengers were PCR-tested before spending the night at a nearby hotel

A plane operated by Israeli airline El Al (Getty Images)

A flight from Bangkok to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Goa on Monday, after the pilot shut down one of the engines.

El Al flight 082 had taken off from Bangkok, making a planned stop in Phuket, before taking off for Tel Aviv, after which the pilot noticed that the fuel leak indicator light was on.

Following protocol, the captain shut down the affected left engine and arranged to make an emergency landing in Goa with just one engine running.

In response, the Indian navy opened a previously closed airfield in Dabolim, Goa, to facilitate the Boeing 787’s safe landing.

The plane touched down with all 276 passengers aboard unharmed.

“In a swift execution of emergency procedures, #IndianNavy operated airfield at Dabolim, Goa facilitated safe recovery of Flight ELAL-082 en route to Tel Aviv from Bangkok with 276 personnel onboard, the flight made an emergency landing in early morning hours of 1 November,” tweeted a spokesperson for the Indian Navy.

“The aircraft had declared emergency citing left engine shut. The airfield which was closed for ongoing upgradation work, was made available at short notice enabling safe recovery of aircraft as per standard operating procedures,” it continued.

The plane landed safely and passengers were reportedly PCR-tested before spending the night at a local hotel, while the plane was assessed.

Crew testing the aircraft did not find any indications of a leak, prompting investigations into how the indicator light could have been switched on.

While shutting down one of an aircraft’s two engines may sound dramatic, it’s a safety measure pilots are trained to take.

In the event that an engine is lost or shut down, pilots are trained (and regularly updated on training) to slowly fly the plane to a lower, “safe” altitude and communicate with Air Traffic Control to find the nearest airport to divert to.

According to international safety statistics, there are about 25 incidents a year involving engine failure or shutdown - that’s less than one in a million flights worldwide.