Qatar Airways flight gets delayed by about 5 hrs at Kolkata airport as fire detected in engine

New Delhi: A Doha-bound Qatar Airways flight got delayed by about five hours at Kolkata airport on Thursday after a fire was detected in one of its engines, Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said on Thursday.

At the time of the boarding of QR-541, which had the standard time of departure at 3.15 am, the pilot saw fire indication in auxiliary power unit, they said.

Auxiliary power unit, which is the smallest engine, is at the tail end of the aircraft. Its job is to fire up the main engines of the aircraft.

The flight left for its destination at around 8.10 am after the issue was resolved, they said.

The airline in a statement said,”Qatar Airways regrets the delay to flight QR541 from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport to Doha due to a technical issue on board that resulted in a short delay.” 

It said that all passengers were provided refreshments.

“We thank our passengers for their patience and understanding, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by this situation. The safety and security of our passengers remains Qatar Airways’ top priority,” it added.