Wednesday, October 15, 2008

SriLankan Airlines Escaped from Great Disaster

A major disaster was averted after a Colombo-Chennai SriLankan Airlines aircraft carrying 180 passengers missed the centre line of the runway, damaging 13 runway lights on Monday morning.

Four wheels on the left side of the aircraft were damaged. Though the wheels were damaged, the pilot corrected the course and made a safe landing and also brought the flight to the apron. Refusing to give details of the accident, a SriLankan airline's official said: "We had an incident of tyre burst."

An Airports Authority of India official said heavy rains could have affected visibility, leading to the aircraft landing away from the centre line. "The runway lights might have got damaged as the aircraft either ran over them or because of jet blast. The broken glass must have damaged the tyres," an official said.

The DGCA has ordered an investigation to ascertain the cause and nature of the accident. Airport officials said the lights were replaced by evening. A replacement aircraft was brought in from Colombo and the return flight was arranged at 3 pm

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