12 hurt after Jet Airways aircraft carrying 154 skids at Goa

Mumbai: A Mumbai-bound Jet Airways flight with 154 passengers and seven crewmembers aboard skid off the runway at Dabolim airport in Goa early on Tuesday morning. While no passenger was injured as a result of the skidding, around a dozen sustained injuries while jumping off the inflated escape chutes used in emergency evacuations.

According to sources from Goa airport, till 9 pm Tuesday, seven of the 12 injured passengers had been discharged after administration of first-aid. The remaining five injured passengers were receiving medical attention. “Flight 9W 2374, from Goa-Mumbai of today, with 154 guests and seven crew, veered off the runway while aligning for takeoff,” a Jet Airways official said. Sources said the mishap took place at about 5.04 am Tuesday.

A probe has been ordered into the incident, which will be conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Jet Airways technical team. The Indian Navy is providing all assistance in the investigation. The Dabolim airport is located in Indian Navy’s facility, INS Hansa in Vasco town, and is run by the Indian Navy.

According to the Goa airport sources, the process of shifting the skidded aircraft will commence post clearance by AAIB. In addition, some salvage material has arrived in Goa and the rest will be arriving by road. “The damage to the runway was also assessed by a team of Indian Navy and Airport Authority of India officials,” the sources said. According to sources from Jet Airways, both pilots of 9W 2374 flight were de-rostered till the probe into the incident is completed. In addition, the pilots concerned were also directed to remain present for enquiries.

Meanwhile, insider sources from the airline informed that fatigue could be the reason behind the skidding of the aircraft. An official spokesperson of Jet Airways said, “The airline deployed one of its 346-seater B777-300 ER, to clear the backlog of passengers.” The airline later announced it would deploy its wide-body B777 aircraft with a capacity to seat 346 guests, to facilitate the travel of its guests between Mumbai and Goa.

As the airport is run by the Navy, Naval personnel rushed for the rescue and evacuation process. The Navy spokesperson, captain D.K. Sharma said, “There are minor injuries, bruises or fractures to 15 passengers.” According to Mr Sharma, the runway was made available for flight operations at 9 AM and at about 12.20 pm, the operations at Goa airport returned to normal.

Bound for Mumbai, the aircraft had arrived in Goa from Dubai after completing its first leg. The official spokesperson of Jet Airways said ATC duty personnel on the runway reported the aircraft leaving the runway and subsequently receiving a distress call from the aircraft. The aircraft came to a halt about 250-300m from the runway. An emergency crew of the Navy was immediately dispatched in rescue vehicles to the site.

According to Navy officials, the aircraft was taking off from HANSA runway 26 around 5 am. Immediately after the incident Navy responded within 15-20 minutes and all the passengers were evacuated safely out of the aircraft. “Only 15 have received minor injuries/ fractures during the evacuation process. All were evacuated to the Passenger terminal and the injured being managed further in a local hospital,” said Mr Sharma.

Passengers who were booked on the flight took to the social media to share their experience. One such passenger tweeted, “Media makes it look like it’s nothing, bt it was terrible; Engine exploded, could’ve died.” Tanesh Kumar Surana, another passenger, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, said, “There was a pregnant lady too, and she had fallen down, also there were kids who were crying badly for help.” Rajiv Kumar of Patna said, “Our aircraft was taxiing on the runway but then it couldn’t take off and started skidding on the soil adjoining the runway. After that suddenly smoke started coming out.” Some passengers also claimed they were finding it difficult to get their luggage after the mishap.