BELAGAVI: A major mishap was averted after a SpiceJet aircraft, with 30 passengers on board, landed at the wrong end of the runway at the Belagavi airport on Sunday. The pilots later flew the aircraft to Hyderabad after a 26-minute stopover.
Despite the mess-up, flight operations at the airport remained unaffected throughout the day. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched an inquiry to ascertain the cause for the technical glitch that made the pilots of the Hyderabad-Belagavi flight land on the wrong end of the runway.
DGCA Arun Kumar said the two pilots have been off-rostered and the investigation is on. “We will take further action based on the probe,” he added. SpiceJet stated that the ATC had cleared the aircraft to land on RWY26 at Belgaum, but it landed on RWY08.
Both pilots now removed from roster, says airline
“The aircraft landed safely. The airline acted immediately and proactively on receiving the information and informed DGCA and AAIB, and immediately off-rostered both pilots pending an investigation,” the SpiceJet spokesperson stated.
Belagavi Airport Director Rajesh Kumar Maurya said, “There was no trouble at all in the landing and takeoff and nor did any of the passengers faced inconvenience. It was a minor technical problem which is being investigated by the authorities.’’
The aircraft, SJ337, landed at the Belagavi airport at 11.20 am on Sunday and took off for Hyderabad at 12.06 pm with 50 passengers. The Belagavi airport is in the second position in the state after Bengaluru in the number of aircraft arrivals and departures.