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Plane overshot runway only by a few feet, says Minister

Special Correspondent

"The secondary runway had taken the load of 500 flights since operations resumed"

NEW DELHI: The Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, said on Saturday that Air India's Boeing 747-400 overshot the runway in Mumbai by a few feet as the pilot apparently did not brake sufficiently hard to avoid skidding.

He said the secondary runway was absolutely safe for operations. "Preliminary reports suggest that the pilot did not apply full brakes to avoid skidding on the wet runway. He had estimated that the plane would come to a stop before the end of the runway. It did but the nosewheel went out of the runway by a few feet," Mr. Patel told reporters here.

"Completely safe"

It was incorrect to suggest that the aircraft had run aground by about 200 to 300 feet. "All passengers are safe. The aircraft is okay, but it has to be physically tested," he said. Stating that the secondary runway was completely safe, Mr. Patel said although it was a little shorter than the main runway it had all the equipment required for safe landing.

The main runway had been opened for outgoing flights on Saturday and it would become operational for landing too over the next couple of days, he said.

Meanwhile, the passengers of the Air India plane from Bangalore were being flown to their destinations by other flights, he said.

The secondary runway had taken the load of 500 flights since operations resumed at the Mumbai Airport on Thursday afternoon, he said.

However, there would be a mandatory inquiry into the incident as well.

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