A major mishap was averted at the Vijayawada International Airport in Gannavaram today.
An Air India flight arriving from Doha this evening lost control while landing on the runway after it reportedly rammed into an electrical pole. Following the incident, fire engines rushed to the spot, and the airport staff swung into action to take up rescue operations.
Speaking on the matter, the airport director G Madhusudan Rao said that though the aircraft had hit a pole abutting the runway while landing, no injuries or damage of any kind were reported.
"All 64 passengers are fortunately safe," Rao told the media.
Reports say that the only damage sustained by the airbus was to its right wing.
Air India authorities have launched an investigation into the incident. More details are awaited.
The flight was carrying Telugu passengers who were all returning to India from Doha due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The incident comes right at the heels of a similar one that took place at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, yesterday - an Air India Express flight, carrying 112 passengers from Sharjah to Kozhikode, was forced to make an emergency landing owing to a technical issue in the aircraft. Authorities later said that it landed at Thiruvananthapuram instead of at the airport at Kozhikode as an emergency landing would reportedly be riskier at the latter location.
filed in:Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada, Air India, Airports, Aircrafts, Accidents