Mangalore: Scary Moments as AI Express Flight Makes Harsh Landing
Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Aug 14: All the passengers of Air India Express that arrived from Dubai to Mangalore this morning at around 6.30 am heaved a sigh of relief after the aircraft had a hard landing at Mangalore airport, apparently due to poor visibility.
Needless to say, most of the passengers had a nightmarish experience as the ghastly memories of the 2010 air crash in which 158 people had perished, is still fresh in their minds. It is only after they realized they had landed safe they began to breathe easy. One of the passengers who travelled in the same flight but did not want to be identified said “none of the passengers mustered courage to talk to the aircraft crew or thought it necessary to know the exact cause of such a harsh landing as we were happy just being alive”.
When Daijiworld.com office received a few calls from anxious passengers about the harsh landing experience they had we tried to contact the officials concerned to ferret out more details about the incident. The officials of both Mangalore International Airport and Air India Expressed are tight-lipped about the incident and were not ready to divulge any information. An airport official on condition of anonymity even said “there was no untoward incident, the aircraft landed safely and all the passengers were safe. Of course there was poor visibility in the morning when the flight landed but the aircraft landed safely though some passengers said they felt a hard jerk while landing”.
A German-based Mangalorean, a regular traveler by flights who did not wish to be named, recounted his experience of the events of the hard landing of the Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express flight. “Just before landing the pilot announced that we will overfly for 25 to 30 minutes till visibility is cleared as there was sudden appearance of some clouds. Then within the next 5 to 6 minutes the plane landed with a bump and again went up before its hard landing once again. I have travelled many times by Air India Express and have experienced some jerky landings earlier. But this one was like a bouncer, the worst of its kind I have ever undergone”, he said recounting his first-hand-experience.
He further said “I believe there was a sudden appearance of cloud which must have forced the pilot to take a decision to overfly. When the visibility was poor the pilot should have stuck to his original plan of over flying. But I just wonder what made him his change his mind all of a sudden taking such a huge risk. When he landed with a thud we all started remembering our gods and our prayers. Finally we are happy to be alive to raconteur what actually happened. From my experience I believe the pilot should have taken off to over fly rather than taking the risk of hard landing. He was a senior pilot and I am unable to even think what made him take such a risk”.
Reliable sources within Air India Express agreed the Air India Express had a hard landing in the wee hours of this morning. The source also said that some harm was caused to the tyre of the said aircraft which had a bumpy landing much to the satisfaction of all the passengers whose hearts skipped a beat untill they realized they are still alive. The source however, denied that the pilot had landed at the airport despite poor visibility. “No pilot can force himself to land without ground clearance from ATC. There might be some difference in the level of visibility experienced from ground level and from atop the aircraft. But that does not allow a pilot to force himself to land”, the source said.
Sources also said that the next Air India flight is scheduled for tomorrow but the air craft that had a harsh landing will not be released unless all the parameters of safety are taken into consideration. Meanwhile there is a possibility that the Air India Express might put into service the additional aircraft they have at their disposal in the place of the scheduled flight so that the flight service is not disrupted.
Only a detailed investigation will be able to throw more light on the hard landing experienced today by Air India Express at Mangalore Airport. Air India cannot afford to give such a horrendous travelling experience to its passengers again and again.