Close shave for 135 after AI flight tyre bursts while landing

Even as surface repairs of the runway at the city airport started on Tuesday, the authorities there ran into trouble after an Air India aircraft suffered a tyre burst at the primary runway, with 135 people on board having a narrow escape. The aircraft was later grounded and its passengers were accommodated in another aircraft for their journey ahead.

According to airport sources, flight AI-614 from Ahmedabad landed in Mumbai at 9 am, after which its rear tyre burst. The airbus 320, which had taken off around 7.30 am, was supposed to land at 8.55 am. The aircraft had 128 passengers, apart from five cabin crew and two pilots. Confirming the incident, a spokesperson for Air India said, “All the passengers are safe and were immediately transported to the airport terminal building via a bus.”

The aircraft itself was sent to a hanger for maintenance, while an alternative aircraft was arranged for the next leg of the journey, sources said.

Later, around noon, airport officials shifted operations to the secondary runway, which led to delays of about 10 to 15 minutes in flight schedules. Sources from the air traffic control department said that till 1.30 pm, a few departures were delayed by up to 30 minutes.