Rain is scapegoat: Runway excursion. Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300, TC-JDM, Flight TK-720. Mumbai, India.

Recovery operations under way near the plane at Mumbai airport on Friday.

Mumbai, Sept. 2: A Turkish Airlines plane from Istanbul skidded off the taxiway after landing here at 4.13am today, but the 93 passengers and 11-member crew were evacuated with no injuries reported.

The Airbus 340-300, its nose wheel and landing gear damaged, was still stuck in the mud late tonight at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Turkish Airlines blamed the incident on “excessive rainfall” — the same reason cited when a Gulf Air plane from Bahrain skidded off the runway in Kochi four days ago, causing injuries to seven.

The directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA), whose Delhi office was quoted as saying the incident had been categorised as “serious”, has ordered a probe. “It would be premature to point out the reason. We are in the process of inspecting vital evidence,” a DGCA official said.

Daylong efforts to remove the plane caused five international flights to be diverted to other airports and an average delay of 15 to 20 minutes in arrivals and departures, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said.

The main runway was shut as the aircraft was very close to it, and the second runway was used. A late-night PTI report said the main runway could be opened sometime after 2am on Saturday.

Initially, the MIAL had sought time till 8pm to remove the aircraft but the deadline was extended because of the wet ground. “Cargo in the front belly of the aircraft needs to be removed to reduce the weight on the nose to facilitate the removal of the aircraft,” MIAL spokesperson Anindita Sinha said.

“Since the door of the cargo hold requires power for opening, external power source would be required to connect to the disabled aircraft.”

A temporary pathway was created over the slushy ground for movement of cargo trolleys. “Once the cargo is removed, the aircraft will be towed away to clear the area for flight operations on the main runway,” Sinha said.

The MIAL said all emergency procedures were activated after the incident, and added that the last inspection of the runway was carried out at 3.58am on Friday, a quarter of an hour before the landing.

“All airside infrastructure/facilities were found operational/functional” during the last inspection, an MIAL statement said. “One landing & take-off also took place after the runway inspection and before the excursion.”

Source:  http://www.telegraphindia.com