Patna, June 30: Passengers onboard a Patna-New Delhi IndiGo flight had a narrow escape this evening when a technical snag developed in the aircraft's engine, with smoke entering the cabin, when the flight was about to take off from Patna's Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport.

A senior airport official said the left engine of the plane failed when it was taxiing to the runway. All 174 passengers onboard the flight, 6E 508, were evacuated soon after the incident around 6pm.

"No passenger was hurt," said airport director Rajendra Singh Lahouria.

All flights to and from Patna were cancelled because the aircraft was stuck on the runway. Till the filing of this report at 9pm, officials were scrambling to make the airport functional.

"I am sure normal operations will resume within a couple of hours," Lahouria said, adding that there was no damage to the runway.

"As the flight was about to take off, I saw a big spark near the left wing of the flight," said Anu Dogra, a passenger who was on the plane.

"Within seconds, the pilot applied the emergency brake. The crew members told us to evacuate quickly and run to a safe place. When we disembarked, we saw fire tenders surrounding the plane. The firemen also asked us to move away to a safe place."

Since there was a rush to get out of the plane from the emergency gates, some passengers are learnt to have suffered minor injuries.

Airport sources said a major tragedy was averted because the pilot exhibited presence of mind and applied the emergency brakes just in time.

Among those stranded at the airport were several leaders on their way to Delhi to attend the GST launch event.

Leaders delayed

"IndiGo flight 6E-508 (Patna-Delhi) was involved in a low speed reject due to suspected engine stall," the airline said in a statement. "As smoke was observed in cabin by the cabin crew the captain of the flight elected to evacuate due to precautionary reasons. All Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) were carried out efficiently. Evacuation was completed in 60 seconds. There was no tyre burst or engine fire."

The statement added: "...There was no technical snag reported when aircraft arrived at Patna. At IndiGo, safety of the passengers, crew and the aircraft is the top priority and at no time it can be compromised."

IndiGo had arranged a flight for the stranded passengers which was scheduled to take off at 10.45 pm.

The leaders delayed at Patna airport included the BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi and Ramkripal Yadav and Jehanabad Lok Sabha MP Arun Kumar.

Modi, who was to board a Jet Airways flight for Delhi, tweeted: "Indigo aircraft tyres burst while take off at Patna airport. It seems will not be able to attend historic launching of GST as stranded at Patna airport. Runway closed. Passengers are safe."

Modi's personal secretary later said he would go to Delhi.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav - who was coming to Patna from Jharkhand - also got stuck at Ranchi's Birsa Munda Airport.