The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan plane catches fire after flag-off

A MINOR fire incident `grounded' the maiden flight of Air Deccan, the country's first `low-cost' private airliner from Hyderabad to Vijayawada today, even as Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, President of Bharatiya Janata Party, and Mr K. Yerran Naidu, senior TDP leader, and a few newspersons, had a narrow escape.

The incident occurred soon after Mr Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of State for Urban Development, flagged off the inaugural flight, a French ATR-42 at the Begumpet airport around 9.25 a.m. here.

The pilot was forced to abort the take-off, after noticing the smoke in the left engine while the aircraft started gaining momentum for the take-off.

The ground staff of the airport swung into action and put out the fire.

A seemingly unruffled Mr Rudy said that there was no need for an enquiry as it was a `technical snag' and not an accident.

Describing the incident, Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director of the Bangalore-based Air Deccan, said that fuel vapour leaked and came into contact with the exhaust of the left engine. "The engine had not caught fire," he said. "Our engineers will look into the matter."

"It was a minor problem which was sorted out immediately. It was caused by excessive moisture in the engine," an Air Deccan spokesperson told Business Line later.

Even in normal circumstances some amount of fuel accumulates near the engine. But in today's incident, when the exhaust fans were switched on, it led to sparks and a big flame. It was unusual because the flames were bigger and for a longer duration.

The Air Deccan Managing Director said the minor leaks and defects have been fixed and the aircraft was fit for flying. The plane will fly back direct to Bangalore tomorrow, he said.

The commercial schedule of flights from Hyderabad to Vijayawada would commence as per schedule from Monday, September 29. Meanwhile, necessary training and other related preparedness would be carried on, he said.

The flight connecting Hyderabad to Vijayawada was part of the expansion plans of the airliner, which plans to reach all the smaller cities in the South India.

Air Deccan, a unit of Deccan Aviation Pvt Ltd, has a fleet of ATR-42-320 Turbo-Prop aircraft. ATR is a European joint venture between Alenia Aeronautica and EADS.

It leased six aircraft to provide connect small towns in the South at cheaper tariff.

Answering a question on the issue in the Assembly lobbies, the Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was present at the inaugural but soon left to take part in the Assembly procedings, said it was for the Civil Aviation Ministry to look into the matter.

Earlier, addressing a gathering at the inaugural, Capt Gopinath said the company would have 75 flights a day connecting all the unconnected cities by the December-end.

"We are offering our services at 40-50 per cent lower than the conventional tariff," he said.

The private airline lines will further reduce fares as occupancy increases, he added.

Reiterating his call for an open-sky policy, the Chief Minister asked the Government to promote more flights.

Mr Rudy said the Government would give the Airports Authority of India (AAI) approval to construct and develop world-class airports. He said affordable aviation should be made a reality.

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