Disruption of five flights throws schedule out of gear

Mumbai: Five planes had to be diverted to Ahemdabad after two emergency landings and air-traffic congestion at Mumbai airport threw the flight schedule out of gear late on Tuesday.
General delays of 15-30 minutes were reported for other flights landing in Mumbai between 9 pm and midnight. Of the five diverted flights, four were of Jet Airways.
The string of delays started with the Air India (AI) Ahemdabad-Mumbai flight, which declared full emergency after hydraulic failure at 9 pm. Officials said the aircraft kept the main runway occupied, leaving other flights holding. Only 15 minutes later, another AI flight from New York asked for a priority landing after a passenger developed sudden chest pain. "The AI flight 140 was given a priority due to a medical emergency on board. Hence, those waiting to land had to wait for a longer time,'' an airport official said.
"Jet Airways' flights from Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad and a non-scheduled flight had to hold for 30-45 minutes before they were diverted around the midnight,'' an official said. "They had run out of hold-over fuel.''
06/08/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Aug 2009, Jet Airways Aug 2009, NACIL Aug 2009, Safety Aug 2009