A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah made an emergency landing at Chennai airport in India after pilots noticed smoke coming from the cockpit.

“Flight SV841 took off from Chennai for Jeddah a few hours later after it was checked by engineers and technicians at an isolation bay in the airport,” said Saudia spokesman Abdullah Al-Azhar in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Al-Azhar pointed out that the plane, which was carrying 200 passengers, made the landing after smoke was detected by the pilots.

“It was not a major problem and all passengers are safe,” said the spokesman, adding that the passengers were evacuated immediately after landing.

The plane was crossing India when the pilots noticed smoke and notified air traffic control at Chennai airport.

The ATC allowed the aircraft to land and made necessary arrangements at the airport. The aircraft was thoroughly checked before it was finally certified as fit to fly.

This is the second instance of technical problems reported by a Saudia plane over the last 45 days. A Mumbai-Jeddah flight with 270 passengers on board was grounded at Mumbai airport on May 31 because of a technical glitch.

In another incident, a Saudia flight made an emergency landing at Athens International Airport recently due to a false fire alarm in the cargo hold.

Source: Arab News