This is a tale of how railway officers helped the airport officials in tackling a stranded aircraft at Nanded. A few days ago on September 11 at around 11.50 p.m., a private aircraft skidded off runway while landing at Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Airport, Nanded.
It travelled to about 1,000 ft on the airstrip, lost control, went off to the fields around 50 meters across the runway and got trapped in mud. It was raining at the time and the ground was soggy. Airport director Rajesh Jeevan then requested Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Trikalagya Rabha for rendering assistance to pull the aircraft from the mud as their cranes were unable to operate in wet conditions.
The DRM then deputed a team of officers and technicians, including assistant divisional mechanical engineer Prabhu Charan and senior technician Nazeer Khan, for the job. The duo conducted a ground survey to know the condition of the private aircraft and requisitioned hydraulic jacks, wooden packing, MS sheets and released sleepers from the railway coaching depot.
Later, with the help of two road mobile cranes, they started the restoration work at 2 p.m. on September 13 by inserting MS sheets under the wheels and air bellows under the nose. Later, they shifted the aircraft up to the shoulder of the runway as per the advice of the airport director. The rescue and restoration work was completed by 4.40 p.m. without any further damage to the aircraft.
The airport authorities thanked the Railways for their help. SCR General Manager Gajanan Mallya appreciated the capabilities and skills of officers and staff of Nanded division in handling the restoration work.
