Air India Flight Diverted To Kazakhstan After Fire Alarm Goes Off

New Delhi: An Air India flight flying from Mumbai to Newark was forced to make a precautionary landing in Kazakhstan early this morning after a fire alarm in its cargo hold went off.

A spokesperson for the airline told NDTV that all 300 on board the Boeing 777 are safe. The aircraft is now being inspected by engineers to find out what caused the fire alarm to go off.

The airline claims no smoke or fire has been detected. In a tweet, it said the flight was diverted due to "operational reasons".
 

AIUpdate: #AI191 #Mumbai - #Newark has been diverted to #Kazakhstan due to operational reasons. All pax are being taken care of.

— Air India (@airindiain) August 25, 2016

The flight took off from Mumbai airport around 2.25 am. It landed in Kazakhstan around 8 am.

The airline official also told NDTV that "at times, perishable commodity in the cargo hold lead to such a situation when the alarm goes off."

The airline spokesperson also informed that the next course of action will be decided only once it becomes clear if the Boeing 777 aircraft can proceed for its onward journey to New Jersey.

A replacement aircraft along with a team of engineers is on standby at Delhi airport.