The Hindu : National : Passengers relieved, all praise for pilot

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Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009
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National

Passengers relieved, all praise for pilot

Parul Sharma

NEW DELHI: Dubai-based Anshul Dhar had insisted on the 9 a.m. Air India flight to Delhi on Monday, wanting to be with his father, who is due for a coronary bypass surgery, as early as possible. With his aircraft averting a collision with a helicopter of the presidential fleet on the runway at the Mumbai airport, Anshul was relieved that, though late, he was safe.

The pilot of the IC-866 Goa-Mumbai-Delhi flight with over 150 passengers on board had to abort take-off when he saw a helicopter landing on the runway.

Speaking to journalists after landing at the Delhi airport over four hours behind schedule, Anshul said: “My father is getting operated here. We left our Dubai home at 10 p.m. on Sunday and reached Mumbai at 7 a.m. The Delhi-bound flight was on time. But when it was about to take-off, the emergency brakes were applied. The plane skidded to a halt. We could see a chopper from our window.”

Not much panic

“After five minutes, the pilot informed the passengers that the Air Traffic Control tower did not give him any information about the choppers. There was not much panic among the passengers. No one was injured,” he added.

Another passenger, theatre actor Bugs Bhargava Krishna, who appeared as the English teacher in the film Taare Zameen Par, said that after the take-off was aborted, the plane was taken to a parking bay. “We were informed that the brakes had over-heated and that the wheels were being changed as they had been damaged. The engine temperature had also shot up. The pilot said the engineers were looking into the problem. For the next three and a half hours, we sat inside the aircraft. Thereafter, the airline decided to shift us to another aircraft. Several passengers got out of the aircraft as they did not wish to continue the journey. We finally left at 1.30 p.m.,” he said.

“I wonder how our aircraft was given clearance for take-off as three helicopters landed in the middle of the runway one after the other,” said the actor.

Most passengers were appreciative of pilot S.S. Kohil for his sense of “timing.”

Ekta Anand, wife of Bollywood music director Anand Raj Anand, who was also on the flight, said many passengers were scared when the plane stopped suddenly.

Returning from Goa after attending a conference, Subroto Roy recounted how the aircraft shook violently before coming to a halt.

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