BHOPAL: A major accident was averted at Dumna airport in Jabalpur when a weekly SpiceJet aircraft skided off the runway while landing, on Friday. All the 49 passengers and 4 crew members who were on board are safe.
The weekly SpiceJet Flight 2458 which takes off from Mumbai at 5.30pm and reaches Jabalpur at 7.25pm was landing when a wild boar came into its way, said sources.
It was then that the pilot had to apply emergency brakes that led to the aircraft skidding off the runway, said sources.
SpiceJet later issued a statement explaining how the pilot of the aircraft managed to avert a major
accident. The statement said, “The skilful and experienced hands of Captain Amartya Basu, who has more than 10,000 hours of flying experience, today helped to avert a major disaster by diverting the aircraft towards the left of the runway to moderate the impact of the event. Damage to the aircraft is still being assessed, however all the 49 passengers and 4 crew members are absolutely safe.”
Spicejet also tweeted on their official handle, “SpiceJet Q-400, flight SG 2458,Mumbai to Jabalpur upon landing, hit a herd of wild boars that had strayed into the runway. Aircraft left the runway to the left. Damage to the aircraft is being assessed. All 49 passengers and 4 crew members are safe.”
No untoward incident was reported and all passengers on board the flight were safe, said airport sources.
SP Jabalpur, Dr Ashish who rushed to the spot on learning about the incident said, “There were 53 passengers in the flight and all are safe.”
The Times of India