Runway incidents: Airlines may face audits

NEW DELHI: Following a spate of runway incidents in last five days, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is likely to order an audit of some airlines whose flights were involved in those close calls. The regulator is also going to issue an advisory to airlines by evening.

"We are going to audit operations of some airlines. The advisory for all airlines is being released shortly," said a senior official. SpiceJet has seen at least three cases of planes veering off runways since last Saturday. Other airlines have also had their share in these incidents.

Aviation secretary P S Kharola met airline CEOs on Tuesday evening after a rise in incidents in last four to five days. “They have been asked to take all measures to ensure these things don’t recur. We are keeping a very close watch,” Kharola said. Heads of airlines’ operations met DGCA officials led by DG Arun Kumar on Tuesday where they were issued the list of precautions to be taken for safe monsoon operations.

On Tuesday, a SpiceJet Pune-Kolkata flight veered off the wet runway at destination on landing in heavy rain. As a result, the Boeing 737 operating as SG-275 broke four runway lights.

"Pilots took corrective action to get the aircraft on center line. Four runway edge lights were inadvertently damaged. All passengers and crew safe," SpiceJet said in a statement.

SpiceJet flight overshoots runway at Mumbai airport; none hurt^[2]

A SpiceJet flight from Jaipur skidded and overshot the main runway while landing at the Mumbai airport amid heavy rains on Monday, although none of the passengers were hurt in the incident, an airline spokesperson said.

On Monday night, a SpiceJet plane overshot the main runway at Mumbai airport on landing and is stuck there. A special team of Air India is working to remove the plane from there so that normal operations may resume at Mumbai.

Two aircraft had suffered tail strikes on landing in last three days. An Air India Express (AI-Ex) Boeing 737 bounced slightly on touch down at Calicut and then had a tail strike on Monday. And in the other case, a GoAir Airbus A320 suffered this on landing at Ranchi Sunday (June 30). Luckily, in both incidents no one on board was injured and the aircraft involved were also not damaged.
These twin tail strikes came after two incidents of aircraft veering off runway on Sunday after landing in heavy rain. A SpiceJet plane overshot the runway in Surat and an Air India Express veered off the taxiway in Mangalore. Luckily, in both cases everyone on board the two aircraft were safe.
And, on Saturday (June 29), an IndiGo Airbus A320 neo operating from Dehradun to Bengaluru as 6E-912 had to divert to Delhi after yet another snag in the Part and Whitney engines that power this plane. “The aircraft had a technical issue. It landed safely in Delhi and passengers were sent to Bengaluru on another aircraft,” said an IndiGo spokesperson.
^[1]

References

1. ^{^} DGCA (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} SpiceJet flight overshoots runway at Mumbai airport; none hurt (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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