Narrow escape for 180 passengers as Air India flight aborts landing 200 feet above Chennai runway
CHENNAI: Around 180 passengers on board an Air India flight from Singapore had a narrow escape on Wednesday morning after the aircraft was forced to abort landing just moments before touchdown at Chennai airport.
The Airbus, scheduled to land at 10.15am, descended to nearly 200 feet before the pilots initiated a go-around due to a high rate of descent and sudden crosswinds, officials confirmed.
According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the approach was deemed 'unstabilised' — a term used in aviation when an aircraft's descent does not meet safe landing parameters.
'There was a high descent rate, and the wind conditions shifted unexpectedly near the runway, prompting the crew to go around,' an official said.
The flight eventually circled back and landed safely on its second attempt about 30 minutes later.
No injuries were reported, and passengers disembarked without incident.
Aviation sources highlighted that a safe landing requires a precise alignment of descent speed, rate, and trajectory — factors that were compromised in this instance due to weather and approach instability.
The incident adds to a series of recent air safety scares at Chennai airport. In March, a flight from Mumbai suffered a tail strike during landing, and last October, an Indigo aircraft from Jaipur was forced into a touch-and-go manoeuvre under similar circumstances.
Authorities are expected to review the latest incident and examine wind pattern data and flight logs to determine if any further action is needed.
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