A Mumbai-bound plane with 117 people on board on Thursday aborted its journey midway and returned to the airport here after it developed technical problems in the under carriage.

The GoAir flight took off from the Indira Gandhi [Images] International airport in New Delhi [Images] at around 4 pm but the pilot detected problems in the plane's under carriage and so had to return it to the Delhi airport, airport sources said.

The Airbus A-321 plane landed safely at around 5 pm, they said.

The pilot apprehended that the aircraft's nose-wheel was not functioning, which could have made the landing in Mumbai difficult.

Immediately after the pilot informed the Air Traffic Control, a full emergency was declared at the airport with fire brigade, ambulances and other essential services being deployed to avert any accident.