An emergency evacuation was carried out on an IndiGo aircraft on Tuesday evening at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) as smoke was detected in the aircraft while it was taxiing out to the runway for departure.

Flight 6E 6017 was scheduled to depart from KIA to Chennai at 6.14 p.m. when smoke was noticed in the aircraft, following which an immediate evacuation was carried out.

“On Tuesday, while IndiGo flight 6E 6017 from Bengaluru to Chennai was taxiing out to the runway for departure, smoke was noticed in the aircraft. In the interest of safety, an immediate evacuation was carried out, and all the relevant authorities were informed,” an IndiGo spokesperson said.

The airline said that all the customers and the crew are safe and that they have been moved to the terminal, where they are being attended to by its teams to ensure their well-being.

It added that an alternate aircraft has been arranged to operate the flight, which will depart shortly, and refreshments are being served to the customers to ease their wait time.

“At IndiGo, the safety of our customers and crew remains our top priority,” the spokesperson added.

Airport officials said that about six flights were delayed for 30-40 minutes, and the situation is now under control.

“All support was given immediately to the airline by the relevant authorities. In terms of disruption, a few flights were delayed; otherwise, operations were back to normal,” Airport officials said.

Officials added that the IndiGo aircraft blocked a taxiway, due to which other aircraft scheduled to depart could not take off. Bad weather conditions also impacted flight schedules.

This incident took place days after an Air India flight suffered a tail strike while landing at the KIA.