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| Date: | Wednesday 14 September 2022 |
| Time: | 11:30 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing 737-8HG (WL) |
| Owner/operator: | Air India Express |
| Registration: | VT-AXZ |
| MSN: | 36336/2782 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2009 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 46368 hours |
| Cycles: | 15194 flights |
| Engine model: | CFMI CFM56-7B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 151 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Muscat International Airport (MCT/OOMS) -
 Oman
|
| Phase: | Taxi |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Muscat International Airport (MCT/OOMS) |
| Cochin International Airport (COK/VOCI) | |
| Investigating agency: | OTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Air India Express flight IX442, a Boeing 737-800, was evacuated on a taxiway at Muscat International Airport.
The aircraft had taxied onto the runway for departure, but subsequently vacated the runway after the pilot of another aircraft observed fumes from one of the engine. However, there was no fire indication on the flight deck.
The aircraft was stopped on a taxiway and the flight crew activated the engine fire extinguishing bottle(s). An evacuation was then carried out, in which twenty passengers suffered minor injuries.
Probable Cause/s:
The amount of coke entered lubrication unit and generated lubrication unit (LUB Unit) malfunctioning, (LUB Unit was not turning freely, found with debris and this caused malfunctioning). This may have blocked oil flows, could have led to oil scavenge system clogging and flooding, generating quick and massive overfill of local sumps, leading to external leakages through the air vents. This led to the oil evacuating through rear sump oil drain and
flame arrestor. The rear sump seal wear lead to the oil evacuation into the exhaust plug and the oil located in the plug/ exhaust created the smoke /fire seen during the event.
Contributing factors:
1 The foreign substance most probably like skydrol in the oil system contaminated the oil and caused the oil system malfunctioning and unusual coking and clogging.
2 The presence of hydraulic oil (skydrol) on the external drive shaft of the EDP, could have entered the AGB resulting in engine number 2 oil system contamination and malfunctioning.
3 The Oil Lubrication Unit, may have malfunctioned due to debris found inside the Unit, causing scavenged oil flooding in the rear sump, leading to oil leakage. The unit was not freely turning by hand.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.mtcit.gov.om/ITAPortal/Data/SiteImgGallery/202455114120350/Boeing%20737-800_VT-AXZ_AXB442_Final%20Report-02.05.2024.pdf
https://timesofoman.com/article/121200-14-injured-as-smoke-starts-coming-out-of-air-india-express-flight-in-muscat
https://timesofoman.com/article/121207-caa-issues-statement-on-fire-in-aircraft-at-muscat-international-airport
https://www.dtnext.in/national/2022/09/14/smoke-fire-in-engibe-of-air-india-express-plane-at-muscat-airport
https://www.facebook.com/446463642067573/posts/pfbid0r4vMz37yFxEobSPAFNr1V2rfNQbWfdSA4LhYraBRyfQkA2LbzUr4bvt29erL2hhwl/
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vt-axz#2d74f83c
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 22 April 2025 | VT-AXZ | Air India Express | 0 | Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (RKT/OMRK) |  |
unk |
Location
Media:
AI Express 737-800- VT-AXZ (Muscat-Cochin)
— Arindam Majumder (@ari_maj) September 14, 2022
Engine ? was observed during taxi
Chutes deployed for evacuation of 141 passengers
All passengers are safe but around 14 suffered bruises during evacuation
@AviationSafety #aviation pic.twitter.com/CnQfCqVfl6
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Sep-2022 10:29 | gerard57 | Added |
| 14-Sep-2022 11:02 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Source, Damage, ] |
| 14-Sep-2022 11:13 | harro | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 14-Sep-2022 11:13 | harro | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Destination airport, Embed code, ] |
| 14-Sep-2022 16:40 | harro | Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 15-Sep-2022 06:15 | harro | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 31-Jan-2025 10:05 | ASN | Updated [Embed code, Accident report, ] |
| 27-Jul-2025 16:24 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Source, ] |
| 27-Jul-2025 16:25 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Accident report, ] |
| 12-Oct-2025 15:28 | ASN | Updated [Total occupants, Destination airport, Narrative, ] |
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