Air India Express plane may have overshot runway before takeoff

The Dubai-bound Air India Express Boeing plane seems to have overshot the normal take-off point as tyre marks have been found between the end of the runway and the compound wall of the Trichy airport in Tamil Nadu, officials said on Sunday.

The airport officials also said that the accident investigation team was expected to reach on Monday.

Speaking to IANS on the condition of anonymity, an official said: "Tyre marks were found between the normal takeoff point and the compound wall. The plane took-off somewhere towards the end of the runway."

Trichy airport runway is about 8,200 feet long

On the morning October 12, the Air India Express flight with 136 people on board had a miraculous escape when the aircraft's wheels scraped the airport's outer wall during take-off in Trichy, damaging the wall as well as the plane's undercarriage.

"The aircraft hit the airport's instrument landing systems (ILS) and then the compound wall," Trichy Airport Director K. Gunasekaran had told IANS on Friday.

Aviation experts told IANS that all the 136 people on board have to thank their stars for escaping alive.

According to airport officials, the climate was normal on Friday at the time when the plane started its journey at about 1.20 a.m.

The pilots, unaware of the accident, continued to fly until the airport staff alerted them.

The plane was then diverted to Mumbai and landed there four hours later around 5.40 a.m.

"We informed the pilot about the mishap," Gunasekaran had said. "The pilot said nothing was wrong with the plane as the systems were functioning normally. But we found some parts of the plane like an antenna on the ground."

An experienced flight navigator who sought anonymity told IANS: "On the runway there are markings including the lift-off mark. By the time the aircraft reaches that mark, it would have gained the necessary speed and power to take off safely.

"By the time the plane crosses the compound wall, it would have gained about a height of 300-500 feet."

--IANS

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