india

Updated: Jun 30, 2019 22:43 IST

An Air India Express flight veered off the runway after landing and got stuck in soft ground at the Mangalore airport on Sunday. The airport is among the six toughest runways in India to land an aeroplane.

All passengers and crew on board the Dubai-Mangalore flight are safe, the airport and the airlines said in separate statements.

According to a statement issued by the Mangalore airport, the Air India Express Dubai to Mangalore plane veered off the taxiway after landing. The aircraft got stuck in the grass, it said.

The operations at the airport are normal and the aircraft will be towed soon.“AI Express aircraft VT-AYA, operating IX 384, Dubai to Mangalore on June 30, after landing on runway 24 while vacating the runway to the right side, has gone off the taxiway into soft ground,” the airlines said.

Tailwind and wet runway with inadequate braking action were reported to be the reasons behind the incident, it said. All passengers and crew are safe, and they deplaned using a step ladder, it said.

According to the Airport Authority of India classification, the Mangalore airport is considered to be one of the toughest for pilots to land an aeroplane thanks to the table-top runaway which requires a great deal of precision.

The airport, which was inaugurated in 1951, is located on top of a hill and the runaway landing approaches extreme edges on the sides of the hill and hence it is called table-top.

“The edges of the hill drop into the valley from a height of 300 feet with a short distance of 500 metres on the east side of the runway and 83 metres to 25 metres on the western side,” saidan AAI description of the runaway.

The Mangalore airport is among the six toughest airports in India to land. The others are Srinagar, Leh, Port Blair, Calicut and Agatti in Lakshadweep. International operations at Mangalore airport commenced in the year 2006 and the Air-India

Express was the first to commence operations here.

In May 2010, an Air India Express plane from Dubai crashed at Mangalore airport while landing, resulting in the death of 158 passengers.