In an unusual mid-air mix-up, a chartered plane, with Rajasthan chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on board, landed on the wrong runway in Phalodi last Thursday (July 31).
The landing on the wrong runway led to an investigation by aviation authorities, Times of India reported.
The Dassault Falcon 2000 business jet, which was en route from Delhi, was scheduled to land at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Phalodi but touched down at a nearby civil airstrip—just five kilometres from the scheduled destination.
Sources told TOI that the pilots realised the error and the plane quickly made a short hop to the correct airfield at the IAF base minutes after the unexpected landing.
Soon after the major lapse, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a full investigation into the incident and the pilots have been taken off duty till the outcome of the inquiry.
A voluntary report was also filed by the charter operator acknowledging the "wrong airport landing."
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"Seemingly, there was an inadequate pre-flight briefing about the presence of two airfields in close vicinity. Pilots must get a proper pre-flight briefing, and that is something operators need to work on to ensure such things don't happen," sources told the publication.
{{/usCountry}}"Seemingly, there was an inadequate pre-flight briefing about the presence of two airfields in close vicinity. Pilots must get a proper pre-flight briefing, and that is something operators need to work on to ensure such things don't happen," sources told the publication.
{{/usCountry}}“The civil airstrip may not support the aircraft’s weight category, compromising landing safety. Also, military-civil coordination may be lacking during such mis-landings, increasing response time for corrective action,” they added.
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The incident comes a month after a flight carrying Himachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri and state police chief Atul Verma reported a technical glitch with the brakes during landing at Jubbarhatti airport in March.
The pilot of flight number 9I821 from Delhi to Shimla reported the glitch during landing.
Airport officials then grounded the ATR-42 aircraft for inspection to check the issue. Sources said the pilots struggled to decelerate after touchdown, forcing them to apply emergency brakes at the last moment.