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Chopper on tarmac makes landing pilots jittery

Last Updated 22 February 2013, 20:40 IST

Nearly 180 passengers on an IndiGo plane had a major scare when its pilots aborted landing at the last minute after detecting a helicopter in close proximity despite clearance from air traffic control (ATC) at Chandigarh Airport.

The incident occurred earlier this week when the no-frill airline’s Airbus A-320, coming in from Mumbai, had started descent for landing and its cockpit crew received a warning from an onboard system about the presence of another aircraft, sources said on Friday.

The pilots aborted landing and had to “go around” on the advice of the ATC, which caused panic among passengers, before safely touching down. The pilots “received an EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems) warning confirming about the helicopter in the same circuit,” an IndiGo spokesperson said in New Delhi.

“As a precautionary measure, the IndiGo crew on board immediately informed the ATC, which advised the captain to take a go around and then proceed for landing. In compliance with the ATC advisory, IndiGo flight 6E-433 made a normal landing at the Airport” on Tuesday.  Satwant Singh Sandhu, a Punjab police official, said that as the plane suddenly started “zooming back into the air, I was among others who started screaming fearing that it would crash.”

The matter was reported to the aviation regulator DGCA.  Chandigarh airport director Capt H S Toor said that it was some sort of ignorance on the part of passengers as going around is a normal procedure.

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(Published 22 February 2013, 20:40 IST)

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