Nose-wheel falls off, plane makes emergency landing

Mumbai/New Delhi, October 9 : A Delhi-bound Go Air flight with 117 passengers on board made an emergency landing at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Thursday afternoon after the aircraft developed a technical snag in its landing gear. All 123 on board, including six-member crew, were safe.

According to officials at Mumbai airport, one of the two nose-wheels of the plane came off when it was taking off. It was the bird watchers at the airport who first saw the nose-wheel fall from the plane, they said. “Our safety officers and bird scarers played a crucial role in alerting the Air Traffic Control and airline officials in time so that necessary action could be taken,” a spokesperson of the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said.

An airline official later said in Delhi: “The pilot noticed the problem mid-air and immediately informed the ATC. After consultation with both Mumbai and Delhi airports, it was decided that emergency landing conditions would have to be put in place.”

Accordingly, all arrangements — fire brigades, ambulances and other essential services — were made at the Delhi airport. The aircraft was asked to undertake a low-fly past as Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and Go Air engineers studied the damage from the runway.

Passengers on board the flight were informed of the situation by the crew. “As we were nearing Delhi, the captain announced that we will be landing in emergency conditions. Passengers in the first 11 rows were told to move towards the back for safety reasons,” said Praveen Jain, one of the passengers. Calling the experience “harrowing”, Jain said the captain’s calm reassurances ensured there was no panic on the aircraft. “Everyone was scared but there was no panic, just an uncanny silence,” he said. The passengers said the emergency procedure took a little over an hour.

Go Air officials said it was a brand new aircraft which had been delivered only in November 2007.

According to a senior airport official, it was Captain Hardeep Singh’s expertise that saved the lives of so many people.

“The reasons for the technical problem will be investigated in cooperation with the agencies involved and the manufacturers,” said a Go Air spokesperson. Airbus, the manufacturers, too, issued a statement that said: “Airbus will give all necessary support to the airlines and the authorities.”

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