IndiGo plane faces engine stall warning for few seconds on ‘wake turbulence’

New Delhi, August 30

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An Airbus plane operated by IndiGo faced “engine stall” warning for a few seconds as it flew into wake turbulence caused by a Boeing 777 aircraft that flew from the opposite side.

The mid-air incident happened for IndiGo’s Guwahati-Mumbai flight that was operated with an Airbus 320 ceo plane on Monday.

IndiGo’s aircraft “came into the wake turbulence of opposite traffic Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft” on Monday, a source at aviation regulator DGCA said.

According to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), every aircraft generates wake turbulence while in flight. The wake turbulence is a function of an aircraft producing lift, resulting in the formation of two counter-rotating vortices trailing behind the aircraft.

Pressure differential over the wing surface generates lift, as per FAA website.

“Due to the turbulence engine #1 stall warning came and disappeared. No abnormality was observed in any other parameter and aircraft safely continued to the destination,” the source said.

IndiGo did not comment on the incident.

Boeing 777 is a large aircraft and has a wingspan of 64.8 metre while Airbus 320 is a narrow-body plane with a wing span of 35.80 metre with sharklets, according to details available on the websites of the two aircraft makers.