Jet Airways flight veers off runway

News added by Victor Hunt under Airline News

A Jet Airways aircraft went off the runway while taxiing and got stuck in the greens at Zia International Airport, halting the airport for three hours.The 121 passengers, mostly Indians and Bangladeshis, and 10 crew members on board the Boeing-737, flight-9W 271, escaped injuries.The flight was heading for New Delhi around 10:30am.Why the aircraft failed to make the final turn getting onto the runway could not be known immediately. The airport authorities, however, said the incident could have happened due to technical reasons or pilot’s error.

ZIA was declared fit for flight operations around 1:30pm.Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh formed a four-member committee headed by Wing Commander Quamrul, director (flight safety), to probe the incident.

Jet Airways authorities said another aircraft had landed at ZIA around 5:00pm yesterday to take the stranded passengers of the flight to their destinations.

Wing Commander Saeedul Hasan Khan, director ZIA, told The Daily Star that the nose wheel of the aircraft got stuck in the mushy ground as it was raining then.

After pilot Chowdhury Subroto Kumar informed authorities concerned about the aircraft being stuck, the fire brigade unit of ZIA, engineering division of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Air Force engineering corps rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation.

Sushmita Bhoumik, a passenger of the aircraft, told The Daily Star, “Passengers especially women and children panicked as the aircraft experienced moderate shaking.”The crew urged us to be calm and advised us to use the emergency exits for safe evacuation,” she added.

With utmost effort of the rescuers, all the passengers and crew managed to come out of the aircraft unhurt, Saeedul Hasan Khan said.The passengers were taken to Balaka, head office of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Saeedul added.The plane was towed to a safe area, said airport officials.Departure of two international flights of Gulf Air and Emirates Airlines and the arrival of three flights had to be suspended, Wing Commander Saeedul said.Of the three incoming flights, one Biman flight from Rome was diverted to Chittagong International Airport.

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