Plane skids off runway; narrow escape for 77 passengers

All the 77 passengers and four crew members of SpiceJet SG-1085 aircraft had a providential escape on Sunday night when the aircraft in which they were travelling had a rough landing.

As the tyres of the wheels of the plane which was travelling from Bengaluru to Hubballi got deflated on landing, the plane skidded off the runway, veered almost 100 metres from it and subsequently made a rough landing.

Officials said that due to bad weather, visibility of the runway for the pilot was nil and this led to the crash landing. However, the technical error that led to this incident would be investigated by a technical team which would be arriving to the airport on Monday. The Director General of Civil Aviation too would be part of the team.

A rescue team and fire fighters were rushed to the spot and they evacuated the passengers within 10 minutes.

City Police Commissioner Ravindra Prasad said that the plane was to arrive at Hubballi airport at 7:15 pm, but due to bad weather, it was hovering over the airport for more than 20 minutes.

Information and Haj Minister Roshan Baig, who was also a passenger in the plane, said that the crew members had alerted the passengers that following heavy rain in Hubballi, landing would be delayed. However, the pilot, Sanjay Saxena, promised the passengers that he would be landing safe and asked the passengers not to panic.

After landing, smoke was seen in the left side of the plane and all the passengers were evacuated from the emergency exit. Three High Court judges - Justices B S Patil, Justice Manohar and Ratnamala too were travelling in the plane.

Following this incident, passengers travelling to Bengaluru were stranded at the airport. The officials, expressing their inability to make alternative arrangements, transferred their tickets for Monday evening.