A New Delhi-bound Air India flight with 134 people, including former minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, on board made an emergency landing this evening at the airport here soon after taking off following oil leakage in its landing wheel.
The Air India flight (AI 433) via Varanasi took off from Gaya airport at 4:40 PM with 127 passengers and seven crew members on board, airport director Dilip Kumar said.
The Airbus A320 aircraft, after being airborne for about 10 minutes, returned to the airport as its landing gear did not retract due to an oil leakage, forcing the pilot to seek an emergency landing, he said.
Among the 127 passengers many were foreigners including from Japan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, he said, adding they have been accommodated in hotels in and around Bodh Gaya.
A technical team of Air India would arrive tomorrow to rectify the snag, Kumar said, adding the stranded passengers would be sent from the same place tomorrow.
"Mid-air drama: my @airindiain flight from Gaya to Delhi via Varanasi developed problems and made an emergency return to Gaya. Everyone's OK," Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said on Twitter.
"Landing gear didn't retract. Would have been worse if landing gear didn't descend," he said in another tweet.
Air India spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Khattar further mentioned, "the fact is that the final
nomenclature of this airport has not yet been decided by the Government of India. This airport is managed by Chandigarh International Airport Limited where Airports Authority of India is having 51 per cent equity partnership and State Governments of Haryana and Punjab are having equity at the rate of 24.5 per cent each in the said Company".
"Being the equal partner in the Chandigarh International Airport Limited, we strongly object to the misleading advertisement campaign carried out by the State Government of Punjab. I request you to kindly look into the matter and take remedial action in this regard," Khattar said in his strongly worded letter.
Earlier, Haryana had maintained that it will have no objection if the Chandigarh international airport was named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh after demand was raised from various quarters including from the legendary martyr's kin in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Chief Minister said that this airport would act as a catalyst to boost industrialization in the state besides showcasing Punjab as the most preferred investment destination to woo the leading entrepreneurs across the world to make huge investments in the state.
Badal said that International air connectivity from "Mohali" was all the more important because it would connect the entire Northern region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttrakhand and even the western part of Uttar Pradesh with the other parts of the world.
He said that in the absence of this international airport daily a large number of passengers from the Northern states were left with no other option but to travel Delhi for boarding the international flights, which not only caused undue harassment to them but also resulted in huge wastage of time, money and energy.
Addressing the media persons on the occasion, the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that with the operationalization of the "Mohali" International Airport, a major promise made to the people of Punjab has been fulfilled by the state government.
Terming this as a historic occasion, he said that this initiative would go a long way to propel and IT and tourism sector in the state.
He also said that this Airport would immensely benefit the Punjabi diaspora settled abroad to frequently visit their relations in a hassle free manner besides connecting them with the roots of their motherland.
Earlier the Chief Minister accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister welcomed the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpatti Raju.
