AI flight grounded for flat tyre

A Delhi-bound Air India flight was grounded after one of its rear tyres was found deflated at the Biju Patnaik Airport here on Tuesday night.

Technical support from Delhi has been sought to repair the problem while all the 63 passengers were shifted to hotels by the national carrier.

Sources said the snag had developed during the take-off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi at 6.30 pm but the flight landed without any hiccup at the city airport two hours later on the scheduled time.

In fact, the Captain of the flight, carrying 85 passengers, was not aware of the problem till the Air Traffic at Bhubaneswar airport pointed it out.

The Air Traffic at Delhi had apparently noticed the problem with the tyre and intimated its counterpart in Bhubaneswar, sources at the Biju Patnaik Airport said.

The good part, though, was that the flight had no problem during landing here.

 The ground staff at the city airport also inspected the run-way to ascertain if the problem was caused here but it was unfounded.

This is not for the first time that the AI flight has been grounded or cancelled.

 On July 30, a Delhi-bound flight had to make an emergency landing at the airport here well past mid-night about 20 minutes after take-off as the aircraft developed a technical snag.

The 50-odd passengers had to wait for about two hours at the airport before being accommodated in hotels.

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The New Indian Express
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