SpiceJet flight makes emergency return to Delhi after mid-air engine failure

A full emergency was declared at Indira Gandhi International IGI Airport early Tuesday morning after a Lehbound SpiceJet flight reported a midair engine failureFlight SG121 carrying approximately 150 passengers immediately turned back to the national capital just minutes after departure due to a malfunction in its number two engineSpiceJet 121 DelhindashLeh experienced a problem shortly after departure from Delhi and returned to Delhi Airport instead of continuing to Leh Approximately 150 passengers were on board The emergency was caused by a failure of engine number two ANI sources saidFurther details are awaitedCitizens react amid rising aviation concerns across IndiaMany citizens on X have expressed growing concern over air travel safety in India highlighting an increase in technical issues and incidentsOne user stated ldquoWe should seriously halt air travel for a few days and have airlines thoroughly check their planes Too many near misses and crashes have been reported in recent months It is making air travel scary for passengers At this point it feels like we are just waiting for another mishap to happenrdquoWe should seriously halt air travel for a few days and get airlines to check their planes thoroughly Too many near misses and crashes have been reported in recent months It is making air travel scary for passengers Because at this point it seems we are just waiting forhellipmdash Saurav Choudhury sauravv123 February 24 2026Recalling the Ajit Pawar air crash another user said ldquoAviation safety in India is hitting a new low Recently a private jet carrying Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar crashed and now we hear daily reports of maintenance issues with SpiceJet and IndiGo planes Stricter norms for aircraft maintenance are urgently needed to protect livesrdquoAviation safety in India is hitting to a new low With recently a private jet carrying Dy CM Maharashtra Ajit Pawar crashed amp now everyday we hear news of maintenance issue with Spicejet Indigo planesWe need stricter norms for Aircraft Maintenance to protect loss of lifemdash The Neutral Guy politicalgoon February 24 2026A third user took a humorous yet serious jab at the aviation authorities ldquoItrsquos better to travel by bus Irsquod rather travel to Leh by road than take a planerdquoMain toh ab bus se hi Leh jaungi bhaihellip yeh engine wala serial roz ka episode ban gaya hai Everyone safe hai na bas yahi duamdash Mahak Gupta _themahakgupta February 24 2026These reactions reflect the declining trust of citizens in the Aviation Ministry of India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA With frequent reports of technical snags and occasional crashes people are increasingly concerned about midair incidentsEngine failures have become too common nowDGCAIndia must order complete audit of entire fleets of every domestic air carriermdash Gautam Agarwal gauagg February 24 2026DGCAIndia Whats happening in overall aviation sector mdash Dinesh Kudache dineshkudache February 24 2026Incidents such as the Ajit Pawar air crash in Punersquos Baramati and the recent Jharkhand air ambulance crash which killed seven people have raised serious questions about aviation safety Citizens are now calling on the DGCA for a thorough investigation and urging authorities not to risk anyonersquos lifeWith ANI inputs