Tyre burst causes panic among passengers at Hyderabad airport
Seventy-seven people on board an
Indigo flight faced tense moments after the tyre of their aircraft burst while landing at Hyderabad airport around 11.25 pm, on Wednesday night. All passengers were safely evacuated. The Indigo flight was travelling from Tirupati to Hyderabad.
Indigo in a statement said, "Flight 6E 7117 operated by an ATR (aircraft) from Tirupati to Hyderabad suffered a tyre burst while landing at Hyderabad Airport. The 72 passengers and one infant and four crew members are safe."
A fire-fighting team rushed to the aircraft as alert ground staff noticed sparks soon after touchdown. The pilot advised passengers to be calm and remain seated and assured them that there is nothing serious, said some of the passengers.
Sources at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport said a couple of flights were diverted to Bengaluru and Chennai, as the
Indigo aircraft got stuck on the runway, which had to be shut down for a few hours.
Actor and YSR Congress lawmaker Roja was on that Indigo flight.
Another Indigo flight 6E-7204, from Bengaluru to Vijaywada, skidded off the runway during landing in Vijayawada last night, says news agency ANI.
IndiGo had started inducting ATR planes in its fleet since last November. The airline is already facing headwind with its P&W engines on its Neo planes, of which 11 were grounded by the regulator around two weeks ago.
On March 16, a brand new
P&W engine-powered ATR aircraft of IndiGo's maiden flight from Toulouse to New Delhi was aborted and had to return to the French facility due to low oil pressure. The airline in a statement said, "IndiGo ATR 72-600 while being ferried from Toulouse to India, with no revenue passengers on board, returned to Toulouse for technical reasons. The aircraft will conduct checks and take actions as required as is the usual practice while delivering new airplanes."