IndiGo's Bangkok-Mumbai flight suffers tail strike; DGCA to order probe
Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI): An IndiGo aircraft operating its Bangkok-Mumbai flight suffered a tail strike while attempting to land at the airport here on Saturday, prompting aviation safety regulator DGCA to order a probe into the incident, sources said.
Both the pilots of the Airbus A321neo have been derostered pending investigation, they said.
"On August 16, an IndiGo Airbus A321 aircraft tail touched the runway while executing a low-altitude go-around due to unfavourable weather conditions in Mumbai," IndiGo spokesperson said in a statement.
The airline flight 6E 1060 departed from Bangkok at 12.12 am ( local time) against its scheduled departure time of 11.40 pm (local time) and finally landed at the Mumbai airport at 3.04 am against its scheduled arrival time of 2.50 am, as per flight tracking website flightradar24.com.
"Thereafter the aircraft carried out another approach and landed safely," the airline said.
"We will be undertaking an investigation on this incident," a senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official told PTI.
Heavy downpour pummeled Mumbai and its suburbs, with some parts recording more than 200 mm rainfall in the wee hours of Saturday, inundating low-lying areas and affecting the transport services including movement of local trains and flights.
Incessant rain continued to lash parts of the city in the morning with occasional heavy spells.
The downpour began around 1 am and continued into the early hours of the day, causing waterlogging in low-lying areas of the western and eastern suburbs.
According to the IMD, several parts of Mumbai recorded more than 200 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am on Friday and 5.30 am on Saturday.
According to sources, there were as many as 15 go-arounds (including the IndiGo flight with tail strike) at Mumbai Airport between midnight to 6 am on Saturday.
Besides this, two flights, one each of Air India and IndiGo were diverted to other airports, and later landed back in Mumbai, the source said.
Following the standard protocol, the aircraft will go through necessary checks/ repairs and regulatory clearance before resuming operations, IndiGo said in the statement.
"We are making all efforts to minimise any subsequent impact on our operations due to this incident," the IndiGo spokesperson added in the statement.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
