Flights into and out of Mumbai airport saw delays of around 30 minutes on Friday after a Turkish Airways aircraft veered off the runway early morning, leading to closure of the primary runway.
The aircraft from Istanbul to Mumbai, carrying 104 passengers, including 11 crew members, skid off the rapid exit taxiway at 4.13 am. All passengers and crew members were safe.
The wheels were reported to be stuck in three feet of mud. The flight veered 150 metres away from taxiway N8. According to reports, the flight was unlikely to be cleared tonight. Turkish Airlines had sent another aircraft in the evening, carrying eight engineers and technicians to resolve the situation and also to fly the passengers to Istanbul. The incident led to a delay of 15-20 minutes in flight operations. The closure of the runway led to the diversion of five flights.
Preliminary investigations show the wet runway and crosswinds might have led to the incident. In a statement, Turkish Airlines said the plane skid after landing at Mumbai as a result of “excessive rainfall”.