Small aircraft skids off runway at Mumbai airport amid heavy rain; 8 injured

PTI

Mumbai, September 14

A small aircraft veered off the runway while landing at the Mumbai airport on Thursday amid heavy rain and all the eight people, who were onboard, have been hospitalised with injuries, according to officials.

Following the incident at little past 1700 hours, both runways at the airport were shut for a brief period, and one of the runways resumed operations at around 1847 hours, the officials said.

The Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL belonging to VSR Ventures, was coming from Vishakhapatnam and skidded off the runway while landing at the Mumbai airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.

The aircraft “was involved in runway excursion (veer off) while landing on runway 27 at the Mumbai airport. There were six passengers and two crew members onboard,” it said.

The regulator also said the visibility at the time of the incident was 700 metres with heavy rain.

An official at the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said eight people injured in the incident have been hospitalised.

In a statement, Mumbai airport said the incident occurred at approximately 1708 hours. “There are no casualties. CSMIA’s (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) airside team is on-ground to assist with the clearance on-site,” it added.

The runway 27 is now open for operations post DGCA and ATC clearance at 1847 hours, one of the officials said.

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