A Boeing 737 aircraft operated by SpiceJet on Monday overshot the touched-down point while landing at the Shirdi airport and veered off the runway, bringing all operations to a halt, airport director Dhiren Bhosale said.
All the passengers and the crew, however, are safe, and efforts are on to tow away the aircraft from the runway and resume operations at the earliest, he said.
Both the pilots of the flight have been grounded, pending enquiry, the airline said, adding the incident took place around 1630 hrs.
“A SpiceJet aircraft shot off the runway by about 50 meters and skidded off. There is no injury to any passenger and the crew, though. Our first priority is to evacuate passengers without compromising their safety,” Bhosale told PTI over phone from Shirdi.
The number of passengers and crew on board the B737- 800 aircraft is, not known immediately, he added.
Bhosale said the aircraft is stuck on the runway due to which all arrivals and departures are halted.
“We are making all efforts to tow away the aircraft and clear the runway for operations as the earliest,”he added.
SpiceJet said its B737-800 aircraft (SG 946) from New Delhi was involved in the incident.
“While landing at Shirdi, the aircraft overshot the runway. However, the passengers and crew are safe and are being deplaned normally,” the airline said in the statement.
Shirdi, around 180 km northeast off Mumbai, is a popular Hindu pilgrim centre thronged by both the well-heeled as well as the common man.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.