Air India Express flight from Dubai veers off taxiway at Mangaluru Airport

Mangaluru, Jun 30: In what could have been a major tragedy, an Air India Express plane that came from Dubai overshot the taxiway at the Mangaluru International Airport on Sunday evening. All passengers are safe and have been de-boarded. 

The Air India Express flight IX384 had departed from Dubai at 12.39 pm and landed at Mangaluru 5.35 pm safely. The incident took place around five minutes later when the aircraft with 183 passengers and six crew on board was making its way to the terminal building and the aircraft got stuck in the grass.

V V Rao, airport director, Mangaluru International Airport said that the airline took step to de-board the passenger at the incident site, a little distance away from the terminal and ferried them later to the terminal. Operations are normal and plane will be towed to the terminal, Rao said, adding AAI is working to get the aircraft to the apron.

Sources privy to the development on condition of anonymity said that pilot could have accidentally powered up the aircraft while making a routine manoeuver of bringing it from the main runway to the apron via the taxiway. 

“The aircraft in the process veered off the taxiway, crossed a small gutter and ended up on the grassy part adjoining the taxiway. Air India Express engineers are in the process of towing the struck aircraft,” sources said.

AAI in an official statement about the incident said, the Boeing737-800 carried out missed approach at 5.32pm and thereafter in second attempt landed at Mangalore on runway 24 at 5.42pm. The aircraft while turning on taxiway entered unpaved portion of the strip apparently due to high speed as per observation of ATC. There appears to be no damage to the aircraft and engineers are trying to tow the aircraft to apron for further inspection.

The aircraft location in the strip is being assessed for clearance from instrument landing system (ILS) and runway strip for resuming operation. The delayed departures are being cleared with approval of Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the statement noted. While the airline has ordered an internal investigation, the DGCA has been informed about the incident and could order a probe in to the same, V V Rao noted.

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