There have been 141 incidents of emergency landings by various Indian carriers due to medical and technical reasons in the last nearly four years, the government said today.
"During the last three years and the current year, there have been a total of 141 incidents of emergency landings due to medical emergency and technical reasons," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
So far this year, there have been at least 31 emergency landings, while the number stood at 39 in 2014. There were 52 such incidents in 2013 and 19 in 2012.
The figures are for emergency landings that happened at airports in and outside the country.
To a query on whether DGCA has received any complaints regarding emergency landings due to engine failure during this period, Sharma replied in the negative.
All the cases of emergency landings due to engine failure are reported by the concerned airlines to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Sharma said that all emergency landing incidents, except those due to medical issues, are investigated by DGCA/AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Bureau) as well as by the Permanent Investigation Board (PIB) of the concerned airlines along with officers of regional air safety offices depending on the severity of the case.
"Safety recommendations emanating from the investigation reports are followed up for implementation with the concerned agencies so as to prevent recurrence of similar incidents in future," the Minister said.
