Shimla: It was a close shave for Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and Director General of Police Atul Verma on Monday as an aircraft they were onboard with nearly 30 passengers missed the runway at Jubbarhatti on the outskirts of the state capital.
As per eyewitnesses, the plane crossed the runway and hit the unpaved strip on the edge of the airstrip.
However, the aircraft did not veer off the runway, preventing a major mishap. However, the impact of the abrupt landing led to the burst of the plane’s tyres.
The flight had taken off from Delhi after routine inspection and clearance of no technical glitch, said airport authorities.
“The runway is small and we cannot deny this fact. As a layman, I can say that while landing, the plane did not touch the ground where it was supposed to and came to the end of the airstrip,” Mukesh Agnihotri told the media.
Himachal Pradesh state capital’s airport at Jubbarhatti — located 2,196 metres above the sea level — is one of country’s ‘riskiest’ table-top airport and needs timely expansion.
State officials say they have raised the issue with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) a number of times to explore the possibility of expansion of the airstrip at Jubbarhatti, some 22 km from here, to facilitate safe landings of aircraft.
The runway is around 300 metres short of the standard length of 1,500 metres, say aviation experts.
“The runway at the airport is less than 1,200-metre long and its expansion has been facing abnormal delays due to the nearby forest area and private land. For the runway extension, the minimum required length is 1,500 metres, which enables a 40-seater aircraft to operate as per the new safety norms,” a state civil aviation official said.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu in January said the state lacked an international-standard airport and the entire cost of its construction should be borne by the Central government.
(IANS)
