The Hindu : National : AI ignored passenger safety: MP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 08, 2006

National

National

AI ignored passenger safety: MP

Special Correspondent

Cites pilot's report on plane diversion incident

NEW DELHI: Quoting the pilot's report, a Member of Parliament has accused Air India of jeopardising the lives of over 300 people by diverting a plane that had suffered a tyre burst and engine failure to Mumbai instead of allowing it to make an emergency landing at Delhi from where it had taken off on April 1.

Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena also said that the plane, taken on dry lease by Air India, had had three tyre bursts in the past two months.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with the pilot's special report, Mr. Raut said that after the burst, the tyre debris hit the aircraft's undercarriage making it impossible to retract the wheels. Instead of asking the plane to come back for landing, Air India's authorities opted for the dangerous option of flying the plane to its base at Mumbai even though one of the four engines had failed.

A tragedy waiting to happen

"Veteran pilots inform me that in the above situation with aircraft wheels extended, one engine unusable and confirmed reports of tyre burst, there was every chance of the debris hitting the air frame or being ingested by the engine. Had another engine failed, the plane could not have sustained itself on two engines and this could have led to a fatal crash. I am constrained to point out that a fatal tragedy is waiting to happen in Air India," he said.

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