Flight IX 611, comprising 129 passengers and seven crew members, was diverted to and landed in Mumbai.

A Dubai-bound Air India Express plane with 136 people on board was damaged when it hit the boundary wall of the Tiruchi airport while taking off and was airborne for around four hours before it landed safely in Mumbai in the early hours of Friday. The plane had sustained significant damage in its belly, but the pilots continued to fly before being asked to divert to Mumbai.

The flight took off from Tiruchi at 1.19 a.m. and landed in Mumbai at 5.35 a.m. The airline said in a statement that all passengers were safe. The undercarriage of the Boeing 737-800 hit the antennae of the Instrument Landing System, a navigational aid, and the wheels hit the boundary wall.

Pilots informed

“The plane took off at 1.19 a.m., it hit the perimeter wall at 1.21 a.m., and at 1.22 a.m. the Air Traffic Control informed the pilots. The pilots had, however, reported that all functions were normal and the flight continued on its journey,” Airport Director K. Gunasekaran said.

Later, a team of officials inspected the accident spot and found aircraft debris, indicating that the damage was significant. A decision to divert the aircraft to Mumbai was then taken, Mr. Gunasekaran added. The flight was approaching Muscat when it was redirected to Mumbai.

The two pilots have been suspended pending investigation. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation are inquiring into the matter.

Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu tweeted that he sought a high-level inquiry. “Air India has constituted a sub-committee of the Board, headed by an Independent Director, for looking at all safety-related issues within the organisation, including subsidiaries,” he said.

Air India Express flight that made an emergency landing in Mumbai on October 12, 2018. It was operating from Tiruchi to Dubai and hit an ILS antenna and the compound wall of the airport during take-off. | Photo Credit: Aidya Anand

The airline’s CEO Shyam Sundar told The Hindu, “A decision to divert the plane to the closest airport was taken as soon as people realised what had happened. The plane had flown for quite sometime and the nearest airport at that time was Mumbai. It was also the best to handle passengers and arrange an alternative aircraft.”

Mr. Sundar said the extent of damage would be known only after a detailed examination.

Aviation experts said the damage may have been superficial and wouldn’t have had hampered passenger safety. “The damage to the underbelly doesn’t mean that the interior cabin pressure within the aircraft would have been affected,” said independent aviation specialist Shakti Lumba.

He detailed the four different scenarios that could cause the plane to take longer to gain height and get airborne.

“The plane could be overloaded with insufficient engine power deployed, wrong selection of settings that generate lift, or selecting flex power or reduced power and, lastly, wrong rotation angle. The actual cause will only be known after examining the flight data recorder.”