A pilot of a GoAir flight from Oman on Tuesday sent a distress call seeking an urgent landing to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) before descending at its destination Kannur in Kerela. There was a 'PAN-PAN' call by the pilot. Reportedly, the Captain of the GoAir flight 056 from Muscat to Kannur yesterday transmitted an urgent call to the ATC as safety or precautionary measure owing to a minor problem while on its descent approach path to Kannur Airport." 

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Call Overruled

However, the ATC had overruled the call. The statement asserted on the fact that "At GoAir, the safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance. The airline regrets any inconvenience caused to its passengers." However, the flight with about 135 passengers landed safely.

Vipul Saxena, Former Defence Pilot and Aviation Expert said that a PAN-PAN call is given by a pilot to the ATC when he is facing a situation requiring a priority landing at the nearest airfield or destination airfield.

Adding to his statements, Saxena said that the situation might be caused due to a problem in fuel supply, hydraulic failure/malfunction, erratic engine parameters, passengers needing first aid/medical aid, violent unruly passenger, or any other system equipment malfunction causing difficulty in flying.

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A similar incident in Muscat-borne Omar flight

It is not too long ago when a similar incident was reported in an Oman Air flight from Mumbai to Muscat that made an emergency landing with about 200 passengers on board. The flight experienced engine failure shortly after the takeoff. However, the flight landed safely in about 15 minutes and a full emergency was declared at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. The incident took place at around 4:42 pm and the Flight WY204 landed safely at around 5 pm at the Airport.

Just a month before this, A United States-bound Air India flight from Mumbai made a precautionary landing at London's Stansted Airport because of a purported bomb threat.

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