Not only did the plane tag the top of a brick wall, it took out a landing guide tower.
With 130 passengers on board, it was bound from the southern tip of India to Dubai across the ocean. And despite the audible and obvious collision, the pilot apparently saw no reason not to continue on.
“We informed the pilot about the hit,” the airport director told the IANS news service. “The pilot said nothing was wrong with the plane as the systems were functioning normally. But we found some parts of the plane, like an antenna, on the ground.”
Air India Express flight 611 continued to climb above the cloud line. It crossed the subcontinent and headed out over the Indian Ocean, the pilot apparently unaware that the plane had a gash along its belly and mesh fencing wrapped around the landing gear.
Eventually, more sober minds prevailed back in India, and the pilot was ordered to return to the airport, which he did.
Eventually, more sober minds prevailed back in India, and the pilot was ordered to return to the airport, which he did.
Luckily, no one injured. Give full marks to Boeing for tough and durable construction.
Doubt an Airbus would have been able to shrug off that hit.
ReplyDeletePilot to ATF: "Not to worry Sahib, it'll buff out". Fired? Oh No!I need this job to save enough money to buy a 7/11 in the States.
ReplyDeletejust a fiberglass fairing aft of the MLG wheel wells. unpressurized. unless it had damaged electrical or pneudraulics or fuel, he would have been clueless. wait. he is clueless! and he did this on takeoff? I like the chunk of structural tubing sticking out the trailing edge of the fairing. Air India needs to install impact counters on their airftames
ReplyDeleteWish it was Air Force One, the pilot would be the perfect match, intellectualy speaking, for the main passenger.
ReplyDelete