Charter plane skids off at Mumbai airport; 8 including two pilots injured: Top updates

A private jet crash landed at Mumbai airport due to low visibility amid heavy rain in the city.

A private jet with eight people onboard veered off the runway at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport followed by a crash on Thursday while landing amid heavy rain. According to the airport authority, eight people, including a crew member, have suffered injuries and were taken to nearest hospital.

Officials gather around a damaged aircraft after it veered off the runway with six passengers and two crew members on board at the Mumbai airport (PTI)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the aircraft skidded off the runaway due to poor visibility following heavy rain.

A video clip has been released which shows murky grey skies filled the airspace above the airport and the aircraft lying wrecked on the sidelines of the runway. Fire engines and airport rescue team could also be seen present at the spot.

What we know so far:

1. The aircraft was a mid-size business jet named Learjet 45 VT-DBL operated by VSR Ventures. It was carrying the passengers from Vishakhapatnam to Mumbai. The incident took place at around 5:02 pm on Thursday.
2. The aircraft was carrying eight people including five passengers, one from Denmark, and two crew pilots. Among the passengers – Dhruv Kotak, Lars Sorensen, KK Krishnadas, Aakarsh Sethi, Arul Sali and a crew member Kamakshi S were onboard the aircraft, which was being operated by pilots Sunil Bhat and Neil Diwan.
3. A total of five passengers, both pilots and one crew member have sustained injuries and are being treated at Criticare Asia Hospital in Andheri East. Medical officials said the flyers are in a state of shock.
4. According to officials, co-pilot Neil Diwan sustained major injuries and he will undergo an urgent surgery.
5. Pilot in command Bhat suffered injuries on his forehead, upper lip along with multiple abraisons over right leg and fracture of vertebra.
6. Kamakshi S, the crew, also had injuries on her forehead.
7. Among passengers, Dhruv Kotak had a soft-tissue injury on his right arm and abrasions on forehead. Arul Sali also had head injury. KK Krishnadas had fractures on right ankle, left thigh bone and abrasions on forehead. Lars Soens had rib fractures and tenderness on right chest. Aakarsh Sethi escaped without any inuries.
8. The Mumbai airport was shut for operations to carry out inspection. It was later reopened after clearance from DGCA at 06:47 pm after all safety check were conducted.
9. The debris near the runway has been cleared for smooth operations.
10. Few flights have been delayed or diverted after the jet crash. A flight tracker website showed that all Mumbai-bound flights were either diverted to other cities or flying in the airspace in a holding parttern.