Air India jet skids during landing in Mumbai, damaging aircraft and runway

NEW DELHI (Reutrers): An Air India Airbus A320 flight veered off the runway as it landed during heavy rain at the Mumbai International Airport on Monday, briefly shutting the runway and damaging the underside of one of the plane’s engines.

All passengers and crew members have since disembarked, Air India said, without saying whether anyone was injured. Air India flight AI2744 had flown from Kochi in southern Kerala state to Mumbai.

The Mumbai airport said in a statement there were “minor damages reported to the airport’s primary runway” due to what it described as a “runway excursion”, and a secondary runway had been activated to ensure operational continuity.

The aircraft has been grounded for checks, Air India added.

A Times of India report, citing sources, said three tyres had burst on the aircraft after the landing. TV footage from NDTV and India Today showed the outer casing of the engine damaged, with some apparent cracks.

Air India has come under intense scrutiny after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad last month, killing 260 people.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said earlier this month it plans to investigate its budget airline, Air India Express, after Reuters reported the carrier did not follow a directive to change engine parts of an Airbus A320 in a timely manner and falsified records to show compliance.