Kozhikode:
Over 190 passengers and the crew of a Dubai-bound Air India flight had a miraculous escape on Monday as the plane veered off the runway as it suffered a tyre burst after an engine failure during the take off at the Karipur airport here.
The pilot of the flight AI-C937 reported trouble in the left engine at 11.35 am just after taxing and was to take off, when the incident occurred, Airport Director K Janardhanan told PTI.
Due to the engine snag, the aircraft veered off to the left from the central line of the runway by around 30 metre with the left inner tyre hitting a runway lamp and getting burst, he said.
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The pilot, however, managed to retain control over the aircraft.
All 191 passengers and the crew are safe and have been accommodated at the airport lounge, he said.
"The engine had some fault and following the engine failure, its internal parts got fragmented and littered on the runway", the official said.
Four flights were affected as the clearing up of the runway took nearly one-and-half hours, he said.
Airport Manager P P Venugopal said an alternative aircraft from Mumbai was being arranged and it was expected to take off later on Monday evening.
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