Indigo pilot takes off again after touchdown

Friday's near collision between an Air India and IndiGo aircraft was not the only threat that more than 120 passengers in the IndiGo flight narrowly escaped.

To the Air Traffic Control's (ATC) surprise, the Ranchi-Delhi flight 6E398 that had landed at the runway 9-27 of the Indira Gandhi International airport, took off again soon after it touched down, with the pilot requesting another landing attempt.

Sources in the ATC told DNA that the decision was taken by the pilot owing to a sudden change in weather conditions. Had he not done so, the aircraft could have possibly run off the tarmac leading to a major disaster, they said.

The incident took place when Air India's flight AI156, from Delhi to Goa, which was preparing to take off from runway 10-28 at its scheduled departure time 11.15 am, suddenly received an alert from the Air Traffic Control, and was asked to abort take off, giving way to the IndiGo's Ranchi-Delhi flight 6E398, that was already on the approach path to land on runway 9-27.

The problem was that the runway 9-27 and 10-28 converge into each other. Because of this, while both the runways are operational simultaneously, a gap is maintained between the flight landing and taking off from both the runways.

Senior officials said that the ATC's prompt action and pilot's decision helped prevent two life threatening disasters.

"When the controller saw that the IndiGo flight has landed, it gave a nod to the AI flight to take off. But the IndiGo flight touched down and took off again," said a senior ATC officer.

It was safe. There was no risk involved as many checks and balances are involved. The IndiGo flight then landed back after following all safety precautions probably 15-20 minutes later," the officer added.

Officials also said that such situations occur when either the plane fails to touch down within the safety mark on the air strip or when pilot feels that the aircraft's speed or alignment is not as is should be for a safe landing.