A Riyadh-bound Jet Airways aircraft carrying more than 100 passengers was asked to abort take-off while at high speed at Mumbai airport at 7.36pm on Thursday after another Jet flight arriving from Delhi on the same runway cancelled touchdown and took off mid-air.
The flight was aborted to avoid a possible collision.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the reason for the mix-up is unclear and will probe why the Jet flight did a go-around (the aborted landing followed by take-off). However, an air traffic control (ATC) officer has been taken off roster.
While the ATC said the Jet pilot had asked for permission to abort touchdown, the airline’s spokesperson said the ATC had asked for the go-around.
Unfortunately for its passengers, the Riyadh-bound flight got stuck on the taxiway owing to brake failure. It took the airline 50 minutes to take the aircraft back to the parking bay.
At the time of going to press, there was no update on the status of the Riyadh-bound flight.