‘Safety can't rely on luck': KC for probe on flight go-around
2
T'puram: Senior Congress leader and Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal has raised a safety issue after the Thiruvananthapuram-Delhi Air India flight he was in was diverted to Chennai where it landed after making a go-around due to a problem in the runway on Sunday.
There were five MPs among the passengers — Adoor Prakash, K Radhakrishnan, Kodikunnil Suresh and Robert Bruce being the others.
The flight, which departed at 8pm from Thiruvananthapuram, was diverted to Chennai due to a technical snag and poor weather. It landed around 10.30pm.
Venugopal said that the pilot announced that another aircraft was on the runway when the plane attempted to land after getting clearance and urged DGCA and the ministry to investigate the incident.
However, Air India said that there was no safety concern and that the go-around was done as per the instructions of the air traffic control and not because there was another aircraft on the runway. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in its response said that an aircraft that took off reported a safety concern on the runway and a runway inspection had to be done.
In a social media post Venugopal wrote: "Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi — carrying myself, several MPs and hundreds of passengers — came frighteningly close to tragedy today.
What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt — another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway.
In that split second, the captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board.
The flight landed safely on the second attempt. We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck. I urge @DGCAIndia and @MoCA_GoI to investigate this incident urgently, fix accountability and ensure such lapses never happen again."
Air India responded saying: "We would like to clarify that the diversion to Chennai was precautionary due to a suspected technical issue and poor weather conditions.
A go-around was instructed by Chennai ATC during the first attempted landing at Chennai airport, not because of the presence of another aircraft on the runway. Our pilots are well trained to handle such situations and in this case, they followed standard procedures throughout the flight.
We understand that such an experience can be unsettling and regret the inconvenience the diversion may have caused to you. However, safety is always our priority."
Meanwhile, AAI said "With reference to the incident, we would like to state that the previous departing aircraft reported a safety concern on the runway to the ATC. Based on this, and in accordance with the SOP, a runway inspection was carried out and no such concern was found."
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