Jet Airways flight skids off tarmac at Indore, passengers safe

INDORE: A major tragedy was averted at Devi Ahilyabai Airport here on Saturday night when a Delhi-Indore Jet Airways ATR plane skidded off the runway after a hard landing and was badly damaged.
No casualty or injury to passengers was reported. The plane was evacuated and passengers rushed to safety as the emergency response team took control of the situation.Airport and airline authorities confirmed the incident, but refused to divulge details.
The incident happened when Jet Airways flight 9W2793 landed in Indore in bad weather conditions at around 7.55pm. Pankaj Agrawal, a passenger travelling on the flight, told TOI that the ATR aircraft, which was full of passengers, went left and then right after a hard landing, before going off the tarmac. It stopped on the grassland adjacent to the runway. “The airline authorities informed us that the right wing of the plane was badly damaged due to the landing,” he said.
Agrawal had reached India from the US on Saturday and had immediately taken the Jet Airways flight to his hometown, Indore.
“Minutes before landing, we experienced heavy turbulence. It was drizzling in Indore,” he said, adding “When the plane landed on the wet tarmac, it felt as if it was thrown on the ground.”
It swayed on both directions after the landing, before leaving the runway and entering the grassland. The fire brigade and emergency response team of the airport immediately took over, said Agrawal.
The plane was evacuated and passengers taken to a safe distance.
“The airline authorities did not allow us to take our handbags. But these were handed over to us after everything settled within an hour,” he said.
“The plane was completely full. There were many people going to Ujjain on the flight, including Sadhvi Ritambhara,” he said.
Sources at the airport claimed that attempts were being made to restore order. The same flight was expected to return to Delhi at 8.20pm. All planes scheduled to operate from the airport have been diverted to Bhopal.
“I will be able to give details only after I clear this mess,” airport director Manoj Chansoria told TOI.
As many as 19 flights were operating during the day from the Devi Ahilyabai Airport, where re-carpeting of the runway was being carried out every night after the last flight. A week ago, the runway was badly damaged as a chunk of the tarmac came off when an Air India flight took off.