M A I N   N E W S

IA plane develops snag, returns to Chandigarh
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 22
The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, and a former Union Minister, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal, along with 85 passengers on board an Indian Airlines Chandigarh-Delhi-Mumbai flight had a narrow escape when the aircraft developed a snag forcing it to make an emergency landing here this afternoon.

The flight, IC-863, had taken off from here at 3.20 p.m. and half-way into the 45-minute flight the commander informed the passengers that the plane would return to Chandigarh. The local Indian Airlines staff termed it a “technical problem”. The flight took off only around 7.15 pm, about four hours behind schedule. Several passengers took taxis to reach Delhi, while at least three foreigners stayed back to catch a flight tomorrow. The IA operates a daily flight on this sector.

The delay forced several passengers to miss connecting flights. It also added to the confusion at the ill-equipped civil terminus of this primarily defence airfield. There was nobody to give information. The local representative of IA, Ms Monika Verma, disconnected the phone, saying: “It is a technical problem.” Subsequent calls to seek even basic information like the number of crew members went unanswered. Eyewitnesses said the wheels of the plane were not retracting properly and the pilots came back. A passenger questioned this, saying they could have carried on and landed in Delhi instead of returning to Chandigarh.

Immediately after flight IC-863 landed here, Mr Sukhbir Badal was the first to disembark and leave for Delhi by road. Mr Barnala kept sitting inside the plane. Latter he was seated in the VVIP lounge of the airport building.

Dr Swaranjit Singh of the Institute of Microbial Technology was headed for a conference in Ahmedabad. He was scheduled to alight in Delhi and board a connecting flight to Ahmedabad at 6.30 p.m. Talking on his mobile phone, he said: “ I am travelling on the Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabadi and will take a flight tomorrow morning. I was told the refund could be had in Ahmedabad or Delhi.”

Ludhiana-based Veena Sood, mother of a young woman sitting inside the aircraft, said her daughter was headed for Mumbai from where she was to board a flight for London. Some of the passengers were asked to move by taxis. However, when they came to know that the flight would take off, they protested loudly.

In the evening Mr Ashok Sharma, Manager, Public Relations, IA, New Delhi, said all attempts to repair the undercarriage of the plane failed. Later, special permission was taken from the Director-General of Civil Aviation to allow the plane to fly with the wheels hanging out. Planes are not permitted to fly if the wheels do not retract.