Monday, August 1 2005 17:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: An Air India Boeing 747 aircraft, carrying 315 passengers and crew from Mumbai to London, made a safe landing amidst full emergency at Delhi airport last night (July 31, 2005) after the pilot detected a technical problem while over flying Karachi, two hours after taking off from Mumbai.

Air India spokesman Jitendra Bhargava told PTI that the plane took off from Mumbai at 1830 hours and it was at 2030 hours that the pilot reported to Mumbai airport about the technical problem.

The pilot was advised to land at the nearest airport in Delhi for a check-up of the plane's problem, he said.

A full emergency was declared at the airport here with deployment of fire tenders and other paraphernalia before the plane landed safely at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here at around 2245 hours, Delhi Airport Director V K Arora said.

Arora and Bhargava said the pilot reported a problem of the plane's flap drive.

Bhargava said engineers are attending to the technical problem of the aircraft and then a decision would be taken about its flight-worthiness.

Arora said fire tenders and ambulances were deployed for the landing of the aircraft as per the normal drill in such a situation.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the plane landed in Delhi because of rains in Mumbai.

"The pilot took precautionary measure as the flight was a long haul one and it is a routine thing that if a technical snag is noticed that such precautionary measures are taken," he said.

The technical snag in the Mumbai-London flight came just a day after an Air India flight from Bangalore had skidded off the runway in Mumbai airport.