An Alliance Air flight from Prayagraj to Delhi made an emergency landing on Friday afternoon after the crew reported low oil pressure in one of the aircraft’s engines during the approach to the capital.
Flight 9I 698, operated by an ATR 72, was carrying around 40 passengers. The aircraft landed safely at Delhi airport at about 2:15 p.m. after the pilot-in-command requested priority landing because of the engine problem.
Alliance Air later identified the aircraft as VT-AIU and said it was operating the Bilaspur–Prayagraj–Delhi routing on September 11. According to the airline, the crew detected low oil pressure on the left-hand engine while the aircraft was approaching Delhi.
The airport declared a full emergency for the arrival and activated the required emergency response measures.
Despite the emergency declaration, the aircraft landed safely and there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Alliance Air crew requests priority landing
The first reports described the incident as an engine malfunction, with one engine becoming inoperative during the flight. Alliance Air’s subsequent statement provided more detail, saying the pilot requested a priority landing after the low-oil-pressure indication appeared on the left-hand engine.
That distinction matters. An engine being inoperative does not automatically mean the aircraft has suffered a catastrophic failure. Commercial aircraft are designed and certified to continue flying safely following the loss of an engine, and flight crews train for such situations.
Once the problem was identified, the crew could focus on completing the approach and getting the aircraft on the ground as quickly and safely as practical. Delhi, being the scheduled destination, also offered the advantage of established airport emergency facilities and support services.
Flight-tracking information indicated that 9I 698 arrived at Delhi at approximately 2:15 p.m.
Full emergency declared at Delhi airport
Airport authorities treated the arrival as a full emergency because one of the aircraft’s engines was inoperative.
That meant emergency response teams were placed on standby before the aircraft landed. Such measures are a standard precaution when an aircraft reports an engine-related problem, particularly when the crew has requested priority handling.
The ATR 72 ultimately touched down without further complications.
For the passengers on board, the emergency declaration would understandably have been concerning, but the sequence of events was relatively straightforward from an operational standpoint: the crew identified an abnormal engine condition, informed air traffic control, requested priority treatment and landed safely.
The aircraft will now need to undergo technical inspection before its next flight. Further findings could establish what caused the low oil pressure and why the engine became inoperative.
Incident follows another Alliance Air mishap
Friday’s emergency landing comes just days after another Alliance Air aircraft was involved in a separate incident at Bilasa Devi Kevat Airport in Bilaspur.
That aircraft suffered a tyre burst while landing. All 37 passengers and four crew members were safely evacuated.
There is no indication that the two incidents are connected. The tyre burst and Friday’s engine-related problem involve different aircraft systems and occurred under different circumstances.
Still, the timing is likely to attract attention, particularly because Alliance Air operates a regional network where ATR aircraft play an important role in connecting smaller cities with larger aviation hubs.
The airline’s ATR fleet is used extensively on domestic regional routes, where turboprop aircraft are particularly suited to shorter sectors and airports that may not see as much widebody or narrowbody traffic.
What caused the engine problem?
At this stage, the precise cause of the low oil pressure reported on Flight 9I 698 has not been established publicly.
Low oil pressure can indicate a problem within an engine’s lubrication system and is something flight crews are trained to treat seriously. The appropriate response depends on the circumstances and the aircraft’s systems, but an engine may be shut down or become unavailable while the aircraft continues to its destination or diverts to another airport.
The fact that the crew requested priority landing suggests that the pilots were managing the situation with a safe landing as the immediate objective.
A technical inspection of VT-AIU should provide more information about what happened. Investigators and maintenance personnel may examine the engine and associated systems to determine whether the warning resulted from an actual mechanical fault, an oil-system issue or another technical condition.
Alliance Air had not provided further details on the cause of the problem at the time of the initial reports.
Safe landing brings incident to an end
For Flight 9I 698, the emergency ended without injuries after the ATR 72 landed safely at Delhi.
The aircraft’s crew responded to the engine-related problem during the approach and secured priority handling, while Delhi airport’s emergency services were activated for the arrival.
The incident is now likely to move into the technical assessment stage, with maintenance teams examining the aircraft before it can return to normal operations.
For passengers, Friday’s flight may have been an unsettling experience. From an aviation perspective, however, the aircraft’s safe arrival shows the importance of established procedures when an engine develops a problem in flight.
More details could emerge once the airline completes its technical examination of VT-AIU and authorities determine whether any additional action is required.
For more on similar developments, see: Air China 777 From London Makes Rare Emergency Landing in Siberia After Engine Malfunction
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