Two AI planes develop snags while landing, passengers safe

New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) It was not a good day for government-owned Air India (AI) as two of its planes made emergency landings at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

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.

After failing to deploy all its landing gear through the usual hydraulic pressure system, the pilot resorted to an emergency manual procedure.

''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 AI349 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.

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