Fright on air: Engine fails, flight Jet-lands

At least 198 people, including the crew, travelling on Jet Airways flight no 9W-118 from London had a narrow escape on Sunday afternoon when the plane had to make an emergency landing at the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after one of its engines failed in mid-air.

“Jet Airways officials alone can tell the right reason for the engine failure,” said an official of the Airports Authorities of India (AAI). “The flight was given a green signal for emergency landing at 12.15 pm and it landed safely. We had taken all precautionary measures to avoid any accident at the airport or the runway.”

Sripura Sen, public relations officer with the Jet Airways, said, “Failure in one of the engines resulted in an emergency landing.” Another Jet PRO N Patabi said, “I am not aware of the technical problems that resulted in the engine failure. Flights from UK are getting delayed because of security reasons. This flight was supposed to reach Mumbai at 11 am.”

Coming as it did in the wake of the UK terror plot, passengers felt that the emergency landing had some other connotation.

Many were already traumatised by the prolonged security checks at Heathrow airport before boarding the flight. Reena (name changed), said, “After a tiring journey, we were told about the emergency landing. We all thought it was another terrorist attack.”

Worried relatives and friends waiting for those arriving by the flight felt that the airline officials were not sympathetic enough. Dr Nikhil Aachariya, a resident of Kandivali, who waited for four hours for Reena and another friend to emerge, said, “We were informed by the airport authorities that the flight was scheduled to land in Mumbai at 10.30 am  but apparently the flight got delayed and landed at 12.30 pm in the afternoon. Until then we were not given any information about the passengers and when will they be able to move out.”

Confused and desperate Aachariya got no information from Jet airways counters either. Situation worsened for Aachariya when he saw all passengers but for his friends walking out. “They had some problem with their baggage.” They came out only to discover that their bags were torn probably by the security officer.

Given the increased security threat, however, passengers on other flights also faced delays. For passengers of the Air India flight from Heathrow airport that coincidently arrived at the same time, it wasn’t different. Beatrice Gomez, 28, and Carmen Zambrana, 51, both UK residents, said they were offended by the whole travelling experience. Beatrice said, “I had planned our trip long ago and so could not cancel it. At Mumbai airport we were told to take off our shoes and put our passports in transparent plastic bags. Initially, we felt offended by all this but I guess the security in Mumbai was also competent as there was a huge crowd at the airport.”

Jet Airways had made alternative arrangements with Virgin Atlantic Airways and a few other airlines for the 240 passengers who had booked tickets for London from Mumbai in this flight on Sunday, Patabi said.

With inputs from Purna Panchal