Airliners-India

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Plane grazes workers' heads at Mumbai airport
Naveeta Singh
DNA
November 6, 2009

Workers conducting repairs at the intersection of the cross-runway at the city airport on Tuesday afternoon got the shock of their lives. A GoAir flight almost "grazed" them, passing just 50 feet over the ground as it came in for landing. They were still shivering, when the plane once again came too close to the ground, almost skimming the repair site.

It was a close shave for both the passengers aboard the aircraft and the workers at the site. The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) ordered an inquiry. GoAir derostered the pilot till the completion of the probe.

At 3.40 pm on November 3, the New Delhi-Mumbai flight G8 105, an Airbus 320 with more than 154 passengers on board, was coming in to land at the airport. Because of the repair work at the intersection of cross-runways 09-27 and 14-32, a shortened stretch of 1,700 metre on the western end of runway 27 was being used for takeoff and touch down by smaller planes, such as ATRs, A319s and A320s.

"The pilot of the flight was an expatriate. When he was given the permission to land by the air traffic control (ATC), he strangely headed for the eastern end of the runway, where there were heavy machineries and around 60 workers at the repair site," an official from Mumbai International Airport Limited (Mial) said. "The plane was just 50 foot over the site when the ATC asked the pilot to abort landing and do a go-around."

The workers panicked. After the go-around, the pilot was again given the permission to land. Again, he made the same mistake. And again, he was told to do a go-around. It was 4.05 pm when the plane finally landed safely on the short runway.

A spokesperson for GoAir confirmed the incident. "GoAir flight G8 105, carrying 154 passengers, circled runway 27 at Mumbai airport twice on November 3. The decision to go-around by the pilot was a proactive and a conscious decision taken to be on the safe side. In order to expedite the investigation process by the pilot's continued availability, the pilot has been derostered. "

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Delhi flight almost crashes into rubble
Chinmayi Shalya
TNN
6 November 2009

MUMBAI: A GoAir flight, carrying 154 passengers on board, just about missed crashlanding into construction rubble at the Mumbai airport-not once but twice-while landing on Tuesday.

The plane, G8 105, from Delhi, descended dangerously low, almost where the construction works were being conducted on a part of the main runway. It being a Tuesday, maintenance work was carried out on half the runway, including the intersection of two cross-runways and so, a shortened tarmac (almost half the length) was open for operations.

According to officials, around 3.40 pm, the pilot seemed to approach the full runway for landing, instead of the shortened section. "Instead of flying through the construction stretch, the aircraft started descending right there. The controller alerted the pilot that the aircraft level was too low. The pilot was asked to go around and come back at the right level for landing,'' an official said. However, even after the go-around, the aircraft descended perilously low near the construction site again. "It was unbelievable that the pilot did not keep the level correct even in the second attempt. He seemed unaware of the fact that a shortened runway was in operation,'' a senior airport official said.

Incidentally, for all aircraft landing on the shortened runway, pilots land after sighting the runway. "It is a mystery why he could not spot the maintenance work. Even while communicating with the tower, he kept assuring that he knew about the runway work,'' an official said.

The aircraft finally got the right level for landing in its third attempt and touched the right patch of the runway at 4.05 pm.

For the workers, the aircraft seemed to be crashing in on them. "Seeing the aircraft so low above them, MIAL workers started shouting. The confusion had barely ended when it came overhead again,'' a witness said.

The DGCA has ordered a probe into the incident and the pilot, an expatriate, has been de-rostered.

A GoAir official said: "The pilot's decision to go around was proactive and conscious, taken to be on the safer side in order to avoid any mishap due to the repair work going on at the runway."
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