Close shave for 134 Air India passengers at Jammu Airport;Rear tyres burst while landing, passengers safe

STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: 134 passengers and nine crew members of Jammu bound Air India flight on Friday had a close shave when the tyres of the plane burst while landing at Jammu Airport.
“Flight number AI821 this afternoon at 1215 hours arrived here from New Delhi when two tyres of the plane burst while landing. All passengers are safe and were immediately evacuated,” SSP Airport Rajinder Gupta said.
The accident occurred while the flight was landing on the runway. “A team of experts are ascertaining the cause behind tyre burst,” he added.
However, departure and arrival of rest of the flights was suspended temporarily, an official added. A total of 19 flights were cancelled after the accident, inconveniencing the passengers. A passenger said that a major tragedy was averted as the pilot exhibited presence of mind. After the tyres burst on making contact with the ground, the pilot reportedly diverted it on an unmetalled path (kaccha road). This jammed the landing gear. Had the plane continued on the concrete path, it would have collided with the airport’s boundary wall, causing widespread damage. The plane stopped barely about 6 metres short of the wall.
AAI Director DK Gautam said, “The aircraft landed safely despite the multiple tyre bursts. No passenger was hurt in the accident.” Aircraft has been removed from the runway. “The normal airport operations will resume by tomorrow”, he said.