New Delhi: An IndiGo Guwahati-Bengaluru flight suffered a “tail strike” while landing at Kempegowda International Airport, to which the airline said on Sunday it was an ‘Abnormal Runway Contact’ while landing during gusty weather.
The aircraft subsequently landed safely, and all passengers disembarked without incident. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched an investigation into the incident.
According to airport sources, IndiGo Flight 6E 6542 had to execute a go-around during its initial approach to Bengaluru airport.
During its second landing attempt, the aircraft’s tail struck the runway.
“An IndiGo aircraft operating flight 6E 6542 from Guwahati to Bengaluru, experienced an ‘Abnormal Runway Contact’ while landing during gusty weather at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru,” said an airline spokesperson.
All customers and crew are safe and have disembarked safely.
“In line with standard operating procedures, all relevant authorities were informed and the aircraft is undergoing maintenance checks. It will resume operations after securing necessary clearances. As always, safety of our customers and crew is our top priority,” Indigo said in the statement.
An alternate aircraft was arranged for the plane’s scheduled Bengaluru-Coimbatore leg to avoid disruption to operations.
Last week, an IndiGo Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with over 250 passengers on board returned to London’s Heathrow Airport due to a technical snag shortly after taking off for Delhi. An emergency was declared, following which the aircraft was given priority to land at London Heathrow Airport. All passengers disembarked safely.
Reports from London said the pilots detected smoke on board the Boeing Dreamliner plane after take-off and decided to return to Heathrow. The crew informed Air Traffic Control about an emergency.
The IndiGo flight 6E4 from London to Delhi returned after an hour or so of taking off from Heathrow, data on the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com showed.
IndiGo, however, did not divulge any details about the exact nature of the technical problem in the Boeing aircraft which forced the pilots to turn back. “The safety of our customers, crew, and aircraft remains our top priority,” it added.
(IANS)
