Mumbai:
For the entire day today, Mumbai's main runway was shut down thanks to a Turkish Airways plane that landed early this morning and quickly got stuck in some mud just a few feet away.
The airport had to make do with its secondary runway. Flights ran late as a result - by about 15 minutes to start with, and then longer delays of 45 minutes by the evening.
The Turkish Airlines aircraft, an Airbus 340, had 104 people on board including 11 crew members. No injuries were reported. The airline issued a statement that said its plane skidded off the runway after landing "as a result of excessive rainfall."
The flight from Istanbul to Mumbai landed at 4.13 am. The plane exited the runway onto the recently-refurbished taxiway N8 that leads towards the terminal. Suddenly, the plane skidded and its nose wheel and main landing gear hit the mud.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which supervises flight safety, has said this is a serious incident, and has begun a formal inquiry to determine what went wrong. The fact that the plane first skidded off the taxiway and then veered so close to the busy runway is a double-whammy as far as safety concerns go.
The airport had to make do with its secondary runway. Flights ran late as a result - by about 15 minutes to start with, and then longer delays of 45 minutes by the evening.
The Turkish Airlines aircraft, an Airbus 340, had 104 people on board including 11 crew members. No injuries were reported. The airline issued a statement that said its plane skidded off the runway after landing "as a result of excessive rainfall."
The flight from Istanbul to Mumbai landed at 4.13 am. The plane exited the runway onto the recently-refurbished taxiway N8 that leads towards the terminal. Suddenly, the plane skidded and its nose wheel and main landing gear hit the mud.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which supervises flight safety, has said this is a serious incident, and has begun a formal inquiry to determine what went wrong. The fact that the plane first skidded off the taxiway and then veered so close to the busy runway is a double-whammy as far as safety concerns go.
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