Air Astana plane makes emergency landing in India en route to Bangkok

An Air Astana aircraft flying to Bangkok was unable to complete its journey and was forced to make an emergency landing in India.

According to Kazakh media, the plane operating flight KC931 from Almaty to Bangkok on December 18 carried out an unscheduled landing at Delhi Airport due to a technical malfunction.

There were 138 passengers on board at the time of the incident. The airline has said it is arranging a replacement aircraft so the journey to Bangkok can be completed.

In a statement, Air Astana said the aircraft departed Almaty at 01:00 and landed in Delhi at 05:51 in accordance with standard procedures. Passengers were provided with meals and issued temporary visas, while the airline is also working to arrange hotel accommodation and, at the same time, preparing a reserve aircraft to continue the flight to Bangkok.

The incident follows another emergency involving the carrier the day before. On December 17, an Air Astana flight travelling from Almaty to Astana sent out a distress signal after smoke was detected in the cabin. The crew safely landed the aircraft, and no passengers or crew members were injured.

It is also noted that on December 17, another Air Astana flight was forced to make an emergency landing while en route to Almaty, underscoring a series of recent incidents involving the airline.

By Tamilla Hasanova