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Tragedy averted at Mumbai airport

     Mumbai: An Indian Airlines pilot successfully averted a huge tragedy at Mumbai Airport on Monday when he applied emergency brakes on spotting an Army helicopter landing just when the aircraft was about to take off. The Delhi bound IC-866 was carrying 150 passengers on board at the time of the incident. The plane had run about 1-1.5 kilometers on the runway when an Army helicopter suddenly landed 50 metres away. Planes run for about 2-3 kilometers before taking off at very high speed. The sudden application of emergency brakes resulted in a tyre of the plane getting damaged. The passengers are being taken to Delhi by another plane.

     Mumbai: In the wake of the Mumbai Airport incident, Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) Nasim Zaidi has ordered an investigation. Under Rule 77, Zaidi has appointed Joint DGCA as an inquiry officer for the purpose. An Indian Airlines pilot of a Delhi bound flight averted a huge tragedy at Mumbai Airport on Monday morning when he applied emergency brakes on spotting an Army helicopter landing just when the aircraft was about to take off. The helicopter was carrying President Partibha Devisingh Patil's convoy. In his statement today, Zaidi said that the Mumbai Airport, which is the busiest airport in India was witnessing heavy air traffic and operations this morning. He justified that the Air Traffic Control (ATC) was fully aware of the Presidential visit and was watching the approach movement of the convoy. As soon as the ATC noticed another aircraft active on the runway, it asked the aircraft to immediately apply breaks and exit through the taxiway. The Joint DGCA has already started the investigation proceedings in Mumbai. It may be noted that planes run for about 2-3 kilometers before taking off at very high speed and the Indian Airlines plane had run about 1-1.5 kilometers on the runway when an Army helicopter suddenly landed 50 metres away.
-Feb 9, 2009