New Delhi:
An Air India Express flight with 183 passengers from Dubai veered off the taxiway after landing at Mangalore Airport on Sunday. The aircraft (Boeing 737-800 VT-AYA) got stuck in the grass, sources said. "All passengers are safe and the aircraft is being checked by Air India Express engineers. An internal investigation has been ordered. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been informed about the incident," the Air India Express spokesperson said.
Mangalore Airport Official: IX384 Air India Express Dubai to Mangalore aircraft veered off the taxiway around 5:40 pm today. All passengers are safe & have been deboarded. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/wHh4EAlH9G
— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2019
"AI Express aircraft VT-AYA, operating IX 384, Dubai to Mangalore on June 30, after landing on runway 24 while vacating the runway to the right side, has gone off the taxiway into soft ground," the airlines said.
Tailwind and wet runway with inadequate braking action were reported to be the reasons behind the incident, it said. All passengers and crew are safe, and they deplaned using step ladder, it said.Â
The incident took place days after a US-bound flight of Air India from Mumbai made a precautionary landing at London's Stansted Airport following a bomb scare, forcing Britain to scramble its fighter jets to escort the aircraft.
On June 27, UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon jets were scrambled to escort Flight AI 191 at around 09.50 am local time after the bomb scare that later turned out to be a hoax.
According to security agency sources, the flight was diverted to London after Mumbai airport authorities received an e-mail from two unidentified persons named - Sergie Seliznev and Nataliya Zhmurina - threatening that Air India flight will "explode in air" along with two other airlines.
Besides, Air India, the alleged threat was also for the Lufthansa's Mumbai-Munich and Swiss Air's Mumbai-Zurich flights, which had already landed by the time the call was declared as "specific at 10.30 am," sources added.
