BOMBAY, 31 July 2005 — Passengers of an Air-India Boeing 747 aircraft had a miraculous escape yesterday morning when the aircraft flying from the southern Indian city of Bangalore to Bombay en route to Chicago, skidded off the main runway and nose-dived into mud at the end of the tarmac at the Sahar international airport here.
Luckily, none of the 333 passengers received any injuries and all were safe and accommodated in hotels. An airport official said that passengers of the flight were flown to their destinations in another aircraft.
The incident occurred at 7 in the morning. The aircraft, which landed on the smaller secondary main runway meant for landing, skidded off the tarmac following incessant rains since last night, which made the runway clogged to a great extent. After the incident, the airport remained closed to air traffic till late in the afternoon, after the damaged aircraft was removed from the runway with great difficulty. Though the other main runway meant for take-offs was in an operational state, the airport authorities avoided taking any risk.
All flights delayed due to the incident, were rescheduled, though flights were taking off to several domestic and international destinations, a flight to Riyadh was scheduled to take off late at night. Hundreds of passengers were also stranded at different airports across the country. Flights, which were to land at the Bombay airport, were diverted to nearby airports, and when the airport was in operational stage in the afternoon, flights that were diverted took off for Bombay.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel attributed the incident to the flooding of the runways, and said he has sought a report from the airport authority and the director general of Civil Aviation. However, a preliminary report of the incident stated that the commander of the aircraft failed to apply the brakes in time to prevent the aircraft from skidding on the runway.
Former BJP President Venkaiah Naidu, who was stranded at the airport, said that the airport was closed and there were no landings and take-offs except for two flights that took off for Ahmedabad and Baroda in Gujarat. Naidu said he was trying to get in touch with the civil aviation minister to ensure that stranded passengers were provided refreshments and food.
Air-India spokesman Jitendra Bhargava praised the commander of the aircraft for showing aviation skills and averting a big tragedy.
