An Air India flight got stuck after landing on an under-construction runway.
Highlights
- Thiruvananthapuram to Male flight lands on under-construction runway
- 136 passengers and crew on board safe, says Air India
- Last month, Jet Airways flight tried taking off from taxiway in Riyadh
An Air India flight from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram to Male landed on the wrong runway in Maldives in a major security lapse on Friday. More than a hundred passengers on board the plane are safe but two of its tyres were deflated. Two pilots have been taken off duty after the incident, officials said.
In a statement, Air India said that the Airbus A320 Neo aircraft landed on an under-construction runway. All 136 passengers and crew on board the flight are safe. It is investigating why the flight landed on the wrong runway. The aircraft had to be towed to the parking bay at the Velana International Airport.
According to sources, the aircraft's wheels and brake assemblies suffered serious damage in the incident and will need to be replaced.
A senior official at India's aviation regulator DGCA told news agency PTI that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has been informed since it is a serious incident.
The senior official at said both pilots of the plane have been "off rostered". Off rostering refers to pilots being taken off their flying duties.
"The local authorities are conducting a probe," he added.
This is the second such incident in little over a month involving an Indian airline. In early August, a Jet Airways flight was not even on the runway when it tried to take off from the Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia. The two pilots allegedly attempted take-off from a taxiway instead of the runway, endangering nearly 150 people on board.
(With inputs from PTI)