The passengers of a GoAir flight had a close shave earlier this week after a plane arriving from Nagpur to Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) veered off the runway and landed on a grass strip on one side of the runway at around 7 am. The incident is likely to have taken place due to poor visibility.
None of the passengers were injured in the incident. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has grounded the flight crew and has ordered an inquiry. The civil aviation regulatory body has suspended and summoned both the pilots to appear before it on Friday, November 15.
This is video of the landing on grass of the @goairlinesindia Airbus on a flight from Nagpur to Bengaluru. Happened on Monday. 170 on board. The moment the jet floats to the left of the runway, makes hard contact with the grassy surface before going around. pic.twitter.com/5d5IQbjmCd
— Vishnu Som (@VishnuNDTV) November 15, 2019
According to reports, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) had given a go-ahead to the flight to land on runway 09. But due to the bad weather conditions, the pilot was unable to manoeuvre the aircraft safely on the runway and swerved onto a grass strip.
After taking off from Bengaluru, the flight was diverted to Hyderabad. Upon inspection by the DGCA, mud and grass was found on the landing gear and was taken as proof of the aircraft going on an unpaved surface. The aircraft has also been grounded after the incident and the digital flight recorder data will be probed.
Flights affected at KIA
Nearly 130 flights were affected at KIA on Sunday due to bad weather conditions. In a similar incident, a Delhi-Mangaluru Air India Express flight skidded off the taxiway and landed on the grass strip at Mangaluru International Airport in July. However, all the passengers and crew members were safe.
