Air India plane stuck on runway, operations hit
By IANSSaturday, October 23, 2010
MUMBAI - In yet another near-disaster, an Air India aircraft arriving here from London got stuck off the runway shortly before Friday midnight, airport officials said Saturday.
Shortly after vacating the main runway, the flight, AI-130 got stuck while taxiing to the bay, affecting movement of other aircraft in the vicinity.
The captain of the plane reported smoke emanating from the landing gear of the aircraft and failure in the landing apparatus.
The airport emergency services were immediately pressed into service and they sprayed foam on the right-side landing gear.
During the operation, the taxiway was blocked for over 55 minutes, which was finally cleared around 12.15 a.m. Saturday, the officials said.
During the intervening period, the Mumbai Air Traffic Control changed the runway operations to facilitate the emergency operations on the AI aircraft.
On account of the emergency, seven incoming flights were diverted, six to Ahmedabad and one to Hyderabad, the officials said.
