Mangaluru: The passengers of an Air India Express evening flight from Dubai had a shocking experience on Sunday, June 30 at the Mangalore International Airport (MIA). The 183 passengers had a narrow escape when the plane skid off the runway while landing before it finally came to a halt.
Newskarnataka.com spoke to CA Asha D’Souza, one of the passengers on board the flight, about the incident.
“It seemed like a normal landing but as we were descending, it started to rain heavily. The visibility was very poor and when we looked out the window we couldn’t see anything as there was so much water.
“My ears were a little blocked due to the cabin pressure but I could faintly hear the pilot trying to contact the air traffic control (ATC). When we were about to land, the pilot suddenly took off again. We went around once again and he tried to land the plane a second time. The visibility was still bad and we could not make out where we were. This time, when the plane landed, it was very abrupt. It was a ‘thud’ and then it stopped,” she said.
After the plane had come to a halt and the skies cleared up a bit, the passengers could see that there was grass around them.
“We were surprised to see the grass outside the plane. Where the plane usually lands, there isn’t any grass around. That’s when we realised that we weren’t on the runway. We knew that we were off the runway,” she said.
She continued to say that during the second landing attempt, it felt like the plane was going a little too fast. “The pilot did a good job landing the plane safely. I don’t know all the technicalities of landing a plane but I felt that the speed was maybe, a little more than it should have been,” she said.
After the plane had landed, albeit in a less desirable way, the passengers, who were already shaken by the ordeal, were made to wait for a long time before they were allowed to leave the plane. “We were stuck in the plane for more than half an hour. Once they brought the ladders, we were allowed to deboard the plane. They ferried us to the terminal in cabs,” she said.
Asked how she felt during the ordeal, she said, “All the adults were scared before the plane could land. We were all praying because we knew this wasn’t normal. The children, on the other hand, were screaming with joy because it probably felt like a roller coaster to them. They did not know how dangerous the situation was.”
This news portal also spoke to MIA director V V Rao to get clarification about the incident.
“The pilot was not able to land the first time because he was not able to align the plane with the runway due to the heavy rain. The second attempt was successful and he even vacated the runway and moved on to the taxi way. When he was taking the plane on the taxi way, the plane skid and fell into the gutter,” he said.
When asked why the passengers had to wait for half an hour to be deboarded, he explained that since the plane had gone off the taxi way and into the gutter area, the plane could not be deboarded normally. “We need to check all the safety aspects of the passengers and make sure that everything is in order when it is not a normal scenario. After everything was checked to make sure that things were okay, the equipment was brought in and the passengers were deboarded safely and taken to the terminal without any problems. Their luggage was also removed safely and sent back to the terminal,” he explained.
Asked about the communication between the pilot and the air traffic control, Rao said that the pilot kept the ATC informed about the situation. “When the plane landed in the gutter, the pilot immediately informed the ATC about the same. There were no other issues reported before landing,” he said.
The director was not available for any further questions.
With regard to the probe into the incident, it can be recalled that Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister U T Khader urged the airport authority to treat the issue with all seriousness and to conduct a detailed probe into the incident. He also urged them to take precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the passengers.
The district information department also informed that the minister spoke to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the officials of Ministry of Aviation to find out if there are any problems with the runways at the MIA.
