Private jet skids, crashes at Mumbai airport amid rain, 8 injured, Watch

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

Mumbai, Sep 14, 2023: A private plane skid off the runway and crashed while trying to land amid heavy rain at Mumbai airport on Thursday evening. All eight on board - five passengers and three crew (a pilot, a co-pilot and a flight attendant) - have been hospitalised, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation told news agency ANI. The extent of injuries is unknown but no casualties have been reported so far.

 

The runway has been cleared of debris and normal operations have resumed - post safety checks and clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The runway was closed briefly and five Vistara Airlines flights were diverted.

 

VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating flight from Visakhapatnam to Mumbai was involved in runway excursion (veer off) while landing on runway 27 at Mumbai airport. There were 6 passengers and 2 crew members on board. Visibility was 700m with heavy rain. No casualties…

— ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2023

The diverted flights are UK622 (from Varanasi) and UK124 (from Bangkok) and UK933 (from Delhi), UK518 (from Kochi), and UK865 (from Dehradun). The first two have been diverted to Hyderabad and the three latter flights have been sent to Goa.

The incident took place near Mumbai airport’s Runway 27, which was slippery because of the rain. Visibility was reportedly around 700 metres at the time.

Disturbing CCTV footage of the crash appears to show the plane striking the ground with considerable force and the aircraft body seems to skid along the ground for a bit.

Other visuals from the Mumbai airport showed murky grey skies and the wreckage of the plane on the far side of the runway. Initial visuals showed the wreckage still on fire.

The blaze was put out by emergency services.

According to the national aviation regulator, the DGCA, the plane was a Learjet 45 - a nine-seater super-light business jet produced by a division of Canada-based Bombardier Aviation - registered to VSR Ventures, which is believed to be a Bengaluru-based real estate development firm.

The plane was inbound from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.