Runway Negligence: Six Aircraft Tragedies That Call For Stringent Aviation Rules

2017 was cited as the safest year for air travel on commercial airlines as not a single death was reported. However, 2018 might turn out to be the exact opposite. Major mishaps were averted, in some cases, casualties were reported due to operation negligence or lack of maintenance.

We take a look at six such incidents that took place in 2018-

1) Jet Airways Flight From Delhi To London Was Ready To Take Off Without ATC Clearance

Photo: AFP/Representational Image

On August 25, 9W122 flight carrying 337 passengers on board was running at full speed, ready to take off when it suddenly came to a halt at the New Delhi airport, reported The India Today. Reportedly, the pilots of the Boeing 777 jet didn¡¯t have the requisite clearance from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC).

After the controllers noticed that the plane was speeding on the runway without any take-off clearance, the flight crew members were taken off duty. 9W122 Delhi-London usually departs from New Delhi every day at around 1 pm.

2) Jet Airways Flight From Riyadh To Mumbai Attempted Take Off From Taxiway, Pilots¡¯ License Suspended

Photo: BCCL

Flight 9W523 operating from Riyadh to Mumbai with 141 passengers and 7 crew members on board attempted a take off with full speed from the taxiway on August 03. The fire and rescue teams arrived at the site immediately and all the passengers were evacuated through emergency sliding doors and fire exits. No harm to the passengers was recorded. While Saudi Arabia¡¯s Aviation Investigation Bureau held Jet Airways responsible for the incident.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has suspended licenses of both the pilots and the matter is being investigated.

3) Ghatkopar Plane Crash

On June 28 afternoon, a Beechcraft King Air C90 turboprop owned by the U.Y Aviation industries after it was sold off by the Uttar Pradesh government, crashed in Ghatkopar suburbs killing five people. It was later revealed that on June 28 it was C90¡¯s first test flight after Rs 8 crore had been spent on its repairment. The 22-year-old plane had been replaced with new spare parts and maintenance requirements for a period of three years.

The family of a co-pilot, Marya Zuberi who was killed in the accident alleged that Zuberi was forced to fly under bad weather conditions that led to her death.

Later, it as even discovered that the pilot of the aircraft, P.S Rajput had warned the Juhu Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) that the weather was too bad for them to fly. The plane was also flying at a very low altitude than what it was supposed to fly.

4) Indigo Air Planes Were Less Than 4 Miles Apart Over Bengaluru

On July 10, the Air Traffic Controllers in tech hub, Bengaluru averted a major air tragedy when they raised an alarm to thwart two Indigo aircrafts from coming very close to each other. The aircraft¡¯s traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) was thus activated.

Confirming the incident, IndiGo said: ¡°The TCAS-Resolution Advisory system was triggered on two of our aircraft operating Coimbatore-Hyderabad and Bangalore-Cochin routes respectively on July 10, 2018. Following normal procedure this has been reported to the regulator¡±.¡± An incident where the distance between two aircrafts is less than 500 feets which can result in the possibility of a collision is termed as a Mid Air collision accident.

5) Flight Catches Fire At Hyderabad Airport

Jazeera Airways Kuwait-Hyderabad flight catches fire; no casualties reported: As many as 145 passengers coming from Kuwait to Hyderabad had a providential escape from a major fire mishap on-board a Jazeera Airways flight. The engine of flight No. J9 608¡­ https://t.co/M5goLfqD6T pic.twitter.com/DmKRlDOsSp

¡ª IIK (@IIKNews) August 2, 2018

On August 01, Jazeera Airways, a Kuwait based airline was saved from a major tragedy when one of its engines caught fire on Wednesday night. The accident took place soon after the aircraft made a landing at Hyderabad¡¯s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

The reason being ascertained behind the fire is supposed to be a technical glitch. As soon as the engine caught fire, the carrier was halted at the taxiway. The fire was doused and all 149 passengers were evacuated safely.

A spokesperson of Flight J9 608 of Jazeera Airways told HT, that some sparks in its right engine were seen while landing around 1:30 am. ¡°The sparks soon led to fire in the engine and the aircraft was immediately stopped. As per the GMR airport protocol, the authorities rushed fire tenders to the aircraft, but by that time, the fire was immediately brought under control automatically as the pilot stopped the engine.¡±

6) Mexico Miracle: Plane crashed But No Deaths Were Reported

On July 31, an Aeromexico aircraft crashed in the northern Mexico state of Durango right after it took off in heavy rains. The mid-sized jet carried passengers in full capacity, 103 in total including two infants and four crew members on board.

A spokesperson for the state¡¯s civil protection agency reportedly said that 85 out of the total passengers had suffered light injuries.

Officials and witnesses had differing accounts of whether the plane fell right after takeoff or ran off the runway without gaining altitude. But both agree that the plane took off during rough weather conditions.

In March 2018, a Bangladeshi airliner with 71 people on board crashed in Kathmandu which killed 51 people. An investigation by the Nepal government revealed that the pilot¡¯s mental condition wasn¡¯t satisfactory while he was flying the aeroplane.

On August 11, a Swiss-made Pilatus PC-6, single-engine plane was reported missing while it was operating from Tanah Merah in Boven Digul district to Oksibil, the district capital of Pegunungan Bintang, bordering Papua New Guinea. It lost contact with the communication centre just before landing and a 12-year-old boy was the lone survivor in the incident. There have been many more such incidents in the last eight months of 2018. Perhaps, more stringent aviation rules are needed to ensure safer take-offs and landing of the aircraft.