New Delhi: In what could have ended in a major disaster, an Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul landed on a runway of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi that is meant for take-offs. The incident occurred shortly after noon on Sunday.
Though a flight was scheduled for take-off from that runway, it was still to reach when the Airbus A310 touched down, leaving Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials appalled.
Authorities have sought an explanation from the pilots and lodged a complaint with the Ariana Afghan Airlines headquarters in Kabul, demanding a full-fledged inquiry.
According to an official, the incident happ
ened around 12.06 pm when the Ariana flight was cleared for landing at the airport’s runway 29L.
“However, the aircraft made a “mistaken” landing onto 29R, the runway meant only for take-offs. Fortunately, no flights were taking-off from 29R at the time and the incident passed without damage,” the official said.
The landing speed of an Airbus A310 is around 220-240 kmph. Hundreds of people could have died had it collided with another aircraft on the ground at that speed, the official said.
“This was a miraculous escape as an aircraft was to take off from 29R. Luckily it wasn’t on the runway when FG311 landed on it,” he added.
Officials are calling this a “serious operational breach” and have initiated an inquiry.
The worst runway collision to have taken place was on the Spanish island of Tenerife in 1977. As many as 583 people died after a KLM aircraft crashed into Pan Am flight.
Such an incident at the IGI Airport – the country’s busiest – is being taken very seriously. The airport handles 1,300-1,500 flights daily.