An Air India flight with 144 passengers on board made an emergency landing minutes after taking off from the Kumbirgram Airport in Silchar in Assam after one of its landing gears malfunctioned on Wednesday morning.
According to sources, the plane was forced to land immediately after take-off after a snag was noticed in one of its rear wheels.
The incident was reported from Kumbhgram Airport. The flight, an Airbus A319, was bound for Kolkata with near-capacity passengers.
PK Gorai, the airport director, said the pilot detected the glitch along with a hydraulic leak.
“…the pilot…landed the plane back at the Silchar airport. A full emergency was declared at the airport and the flight also suffered landing gear failure.” Gorai said they were trying to figure out what went wrong.
“This is a huge plane and we have only one runway at our airport which is presently blocked. If this Air India flight does not fly, we have to cancel other flights for now.”
The defence airport in Silchar is partially being used for domestic purposes.
A greenfield airport is proposed to be built in the region. An aviation ministry team recently visited Cachar to find land for the proposed airport.