Relief as mid-air trauma comes to end

New Delhi: '' There was a tense silence in the aircraft. Everybody pretended not to panic, but the fear was palpable ,'' said A P Ghogre, a passenger aboard Go Air's flight G8 456 from Mumbai to Delhi which made an emergency landing on Thursday. Passengers said 35 minutes before landing the pilot announced that a wheel of the aircraft was missing and an emergency landing could be required . '' We thought it was the end for us but it is an auspicious day and we survived,'' added Ghogre.
The aircraft landed finally at about 4.45 pm and almost an hour later, the relieved passengers walked out, into the arms of their waiting loved ones. '' I am just so glad to be out. The pilot flew exceptionally well and we had a smooth landing. We were so sure we will not survive today ,'' said Shailesh Sharma, wiping the beads of perspiration from his forehead. His wife Anju, meanwhile, got in touch with their daughter in Mumbai to tell her they were safe and couldn't stop smiling with relief.
The flight from Mumbai had been quite smooth and passengers did not feel anything amiss till the pilot's announcement about the missing wheel. '' Initially it seemed that a wheel had been found at the Mumbai airport but our pilot wasn't too sure which aircraft it belonged to. But he confirmed soon that it belonged to our aircraft. The pilot attempted to land once for which he asked passengers sitting in the first 11 rows to move to the back. Thankfully the flight wasn't full so we managed that....'' said Neelu Kohli, a television actor.
Surakhshit Goswami, another passenger, said they had to wait for a short while in the aircraft till the step ladders were brought. '' We clapped and cheered on landing and when the pilot came out for a minute, the passengers clapped for him as well. The crew was evidently shaken as well, as were passengers but except for one passenger who wasn't well, nobody else said anything,'' he said.
For those at the airport, it was an equally tense wait.
10/10/08 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2008, GoAir Oct 2008, Safety Oct 2008