Wednesday, February 13, 2019

After emergency landing of plane, chorus to replace 'unfit' aircraft grows

Rudapur: After the Pantnagar-Pithoragarh flight operated by Air Heritage, made an emergency landing just five minutes after take-off on Saturday, locals and activists have demanded that the ATR-9 aircraft is not airworthy and it should be replaced with a better one. They alleged that the aviation company is risking the lives of passengers as there have been frequent incidents of flights developing snags since the service under UDAN scheme commenced on January 17. The authorities concerned have, however, claimed that such aircraft are being used across the country and is safe.

Meanwhile, after the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sent an aerospace engineer to Pantnagar airport for a detailed investigation on Monday, another senior technician reached the airport to identify the technical glitches in the aircraft.

Regarding the emergency landing made by flight 4H 103 on Saturday, officials had claimed that it was due to a technical snag, while passengers on-board the aircraft said that the door of the plane opened mid-air.

A retired senior police officer from Rudrapur, RP Sharma, said, "Days before the incident, I had made plans to go to Pithoragarh with my friend, who insisted that we take this flight. But my past experiences suggested that ATR-9 is a risky aircraft to fly and so I preferred to go by road. I would suggest the authorities to replace this aircraft with ATR-42 at the earliest. ATR-9 aircraft is an outdated aircraft, used mostly as chartered plane and that, too, if it is in good condition."
13/02/19 Aaksha Ahuja/Times of India
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