Airlines India, Indian Airlines

An Air India flight bound for Frankfurt was forced to return to New Delhi and make and emergency landing on Monday after a bird hit and damaged an engine, the airport said. There were no injuries.

The Indira Gandhi International airport went onto emergency footing as the plane, flight AI-137, landed there.

No further details were immediately available.

The airport has recently turned to wildlife agencies to help find a method to clear the birds form the area, the Times Of India newspaper reported.

The airport is plagued by bird strikes because it is situated near a neighbourhood that has dozens of outdoor meat shops that attract the birds. Also, inefficient garbage collection draws the birds to the area.

A Jet Airways Boeing 737, with 89 passengers on board, today had a miraculous escape after it was involved in a near-collision with a formation of the Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi-30 fighter jets over the airport here.

The Boeing developed a technical problem after its pilot resorted to a sudden climb to avoid the fighter jets. It was grounded after landing at the airport here and all passengers were safe.

The Su-30 fighter jets were participating in the “Gagan Shakti” air exercise over Rajkot when the incident occurred at about 8.30 am.

Though there was no official version of how the near-miss occurred, reports suggested it was the outcome of a lack of coordination between the Jet Airways’ crew and the air traffic control (ATC).

The Indian Air Force, in a statement issued in Delhi, said: “An inquiry has been marked to look in detail into the matter along with the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.”

The Jet Airways flight no 9W-345, from Mumbai to Rajkot, had descended to 22,500 feet when it was asked by the ATC to pull up to 23,000 feet.

A Jet Airways spokesman said:“It was on a normal approach to Rajkot as had been prescribed by the ATC through the ACAS (aircraft collision avoidance system).

“But suddenly the pilot was asked to react and change course. During the sudden climb, the pilot had to use higher power thrust of the engines,” he said.

“The Captain reacted professionally and took the correct decisions,” he said, adding that the Boeing’s engines were undergoing a routine inspection at Rajkot.

An Air Sahara aircraft carrying 175 passengers made an emergency but safe landing at the Indira Gandhi airport in Thursday night. The incident took place when the pilot detected smoke in the cockpit.

The plane was on its way to New Delhi from Kochi via Hyderabad, airport sources said.

They said as the plane was approaching Delhi, the pilot informed the Air Traffic Control requesting for an emergency landing and all necessary steps were put in place.

The plane landed at 2050 hrs safely, the sources added.

THE pilot of a light plane has been forced to make an emergency landing at Mt Baw Baw, in the Victorian ski fields, 157km northeast of Melbourne.

Victoria Police said the Cessna with four people on board was on a flight from Merimbula on the NSW south coast to Essendon airport in Melbourne, when it ran into trouble about 6pm (AEST) today.

The pilot brought the plane down in a remote area 6km east of the Mt Baw Baw township.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Sheree Argento said a search and rescue team was on the way to the area, but it is believed all those on board the plane escaped serious injury.

She said bad weather could delay their rescue tonight and they may be forced to spend the night in the plane.

“We’ve got members assisting the police search and rescue heading up to see if they can rescue these people overnight,” Ms Argento told Southern Cross Radio.

“Unfortunately, the weather conditions there are quite bad so they are going to have to assess the situation when they arrive and decide whether or not it is going to be safe to attempt to rescue them,” Ms Argento said.

“Otherwise these people may have to spend the night on board the aircraft.” It is unclear what caused the emergency landing.

A chartered plane made an emergency landing at the North Platte Airport Sunday about 6:10 p.m.
The Cessna CE680 was en route from Minnesota to Denver with five passengers on board.
An indicator light came on showing that there was a fire on board. The plane was diverted to the North Platte Airport where the plane landed without incident.
The firefighters, who had received the call about 5 to 8 minutes prior to the landing, were on the site. They pulled hoses to the plane and checked for smoke or flames but found no fire.
Dave Heitman, battalion chief of the NPFD, said it was apparently a faulty indicator light and there was no fire.
Mike Hoeft, fire chief at the airport, said the plane would be grounded until the problem with the faulty light is solved.
The company sent another plane to pick up the passengers to take them on to their destination in Denver.