A technical fault forced an Emirates flight from Dubai to the Maldives to land in Mumbai, India on Tuesday.
Flight EK652 to Male diverted to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport due to a “technical fault”, Emirates said in an emailed statement.
Emirates did not say what caused the fault; however, Indian media reported that smoke was detected on board the Boeing 777-300 aircraft.
Emirates said the aircraft landed in Mumbai without incident and that passengers had safely disembarked the aircraft. The airline apologised for the inconvenience.
“The well-being and safety of our crew and passengers is of paramount importance,” Emirates said.
Indian media reported that there were 309 passengers on board the Emirates flight.
The diversion is likely to have a knock-on effect on Emirates' schedule on Tuesday. Emirates was scheduled to operate four flights to Male on Tuesday and three return flights, according to the airline’s website. The diversion was Emirates third flight for the day.
Emirates flight 653 to Dubai from Male will now depart at 2:50am on Wednesday, nearly three hours behind schedule, according to the Emirates website.
