Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It was announced as a routine 8216;8216;technical snag8217;8217;, which somehow made an Indian Airlines plane go off the runway at Mumbai airport on Friday. But Indian Express inquiries reveal the pilot of IC-107 was trying to avoid a possible collision with a Jet Airways Boeing 737 coming in to land.
IA officials are lauding Captain K. Nagrath8217;s decision to veer the Bangalore-bound 145-seater Airbus IC 107 off the runway8212;which resulted in the aircraft getting mired in soft mud8212;though airport director S. Kumar, denies that the planes were on a collision course. Sixty passengers from the flight were moved to a new aircraft on Friday evening because of this incident.
Srivastava added: 8216;8216;It was important for Capt Nagrath to take this evasive action, and we appreciate his presence of mind to clear the runway for the approaching Jet Airways aircraft.8217;8217;
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA has set up an inquiry committee to probe the incident. However, Mumbai airport director S.Kumar said that 8216;8216;the near miss stories floating around in the media8217;8217; were not true. 8216;8216;This is nothing but yellow journalism,8217;8217; said Kumar. 8216;8216;There was just a technical snag in the IA plane which somehow landed in soft mud near the runway.8217;8217;
Senior Jet executive Saroj Dutta said he was aware of the incident. 8216;8216;But I cannot confirm it as no details are available from the relevant airport authority,8217;8217; Dutta said. Meanwhile, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association ICPA, is praising Capt Nagrath8217;s quick decision on the runway. 8216;8216;We will cooperate with the DGCA for speedy completion of the report, and request that Nagrath be allowed to continue flying for IA,8217;8217; said ICPA spokesperson Capt Paresh Nerurkar.
