Passengers of an Indigo aircraft from Kannur to Hubballi had a narrow escape after the flight reported a tyre burst on landing at Hubballi airport on Monday night.
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The Bengaluru-bound flight 6e-7979 was grounded on the runway and was subsequently towed away.
An official statement from Indigo Airlines confirmed that the flight reported a tyre burst on landing, but all the crew and passengers were safe.“The aircraft is currently under maintenance checks at Hubballi,” the release said.
Director of Hubballi Airport Pramod Kumar Thakre said the flight was scheduled to land at 8 p.m. “The pilot made the first attempt to land at 8.03 p.m. but did not succeed due to bad weather and heavy wind. The plane went around and landed at 8.34 p.m. Soon after landing, the pilot reported to the ATC that he suspected suspected a tyre burst and stopped the aircraft on the runway itself. The technical team went there, inspected and found that there was a tyre burst. There were seven passengers and four crew members. All of them were safely deboarded and brought to the terminal. All were safe,” he explained.
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There was no damage to the aircraft except the tyre burst. It took nearly four hours for the technical staff and crew of the Indigo flight to remove the aircraft from the runway and bring it to the old apron. “We made use of disaster management equipment and managed to bring it to the apron, around 500 metres from the runway. We cleared the runway at 2.20 a.m. so that the morning flights could resume services as scheduled.”
Mr. Thakre said that the technical staff of Indigo Airlines reached Hubballi on Tuesday and they were running maintenance checks on the aircraft. After approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the aircraft will be allowed to operate.
According to sources, 18 passengers from Hubballi were supposed to board the Indigo flight to Bengaluru from Hubballi, but the flight was cancelled following the mishap.
In March 2015 , passengers of a SpiceJet aircraft had a narrow escape after the aircraft skidded off the tarmac at Hubballi airport. Subsequently, a DGCA team visited the airport for inspection and inquiry. Thereafter, in the last few years, various upgrades have been taken up, including the widening of the runway to accommodate Airbus-like aircraft to land. An Instrument Landing System has also been installed at the airport and it is scheduled to be commissioned shortly.