Snags on 2 AI planes on landing, passengers safe

New Delhi, Apr 9: It was a bad day for government-owned Air India (AI).

Two of its planes made emergency landings today at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and one of them was still lying with its nose tilted on the main runway.

Luckily, all passengers and crew members flying in from Bangkok and Dubai were safe.

In the morning, an AI plane with 165 passengers and 14 crew members on board had its front landing gear locked while landing.

The Airbus A310 was coming from Shanghai via Bangkok.

''The commander used all emergency procedures as per safety manual and brought the aircraft to a halt on runway,'' said a statement issued by the airline. The passengers of flight AI 349 disembarked using a stepladder.

Just before landing at the IGIA here, the pilot received an ''unsafe warning'' about problems in its undercarriage and the landing gear. The pilot alerted air traffic control (ATC) which asked him to land on the main runway in full emergency conditions.

Firebrigades and ambulances were on standby when the plane touched down at 0635 hrs. Passengers and the baggage were offloaded on the main runway itself. As soon as a tractor tried to tow it away, the nose-wheel collapsed and the plane got stuck on the main runway. The main runway at IGIA was blocked for several hours, disrupting over a dozen of arrivals and departures. Airport authorities had to use the secondary runway for normal operations.

Heavy equipment was brought from Mumbai to lift and carry aside the plane to a remote bay for repairs.

Of the 165 passengers, 56 were bound for Mumbai. They were accommodated on an Indian (Airlines) flight in afternoon.

Then flight AI 736 with 54 passengers flew in from Dubai. All emergency procedures were followed as the Boeing aircraft made a precautionary landing following a technical snag.

''All AI planes are airworthy,'' said its director for northern region D.S. Kohli. ''Technical issues can come up anytime.'' The government-owned AI has been saddled with old fleet of owned and leased aircraft for several years. It has placed order for 68 new Boeing planes to replace older ones and add seat capacity as the merger plan with Indian rolls ahead.

UNI