Aircraft had enough fuel on Delhi-New York flight: Air India

National passenger carrier Air India's Boeing 777-300 aircraft which operated on the New Delhi-New York route on September 11, 2018, had enough fuel as per regulatory requirements, said the airline on Tuesday.

According to an airline official, the aircraft which ferried 320 passengers had enough fuel in respect to safety norms to land at alternate airports in case of an emergency.

The official's revelation comes after some reports cited the lack of fuel as the main reason for the aircraft's non-scheduled landing at New Jersey airport.

"The aircraft was carrying enough fuel to safely land at any alternate close-by airport," the official told IANS on Tuesday.

"Our flight safety department has carried out an investigation into the matter and found the allegations of lack of fuel baseless. In fact, the pilots did an exemplary job to safe-land the aircraft at New Jersey airport."

The airline in a statement said that cockpit crew of flight AI-101 "successfully made a non-scheduled landing at New Jersey Airport braving adverse weather conditions and unexpected technical issues".

"The cockpit crew comprising Commanders Capt. Rustom Palia and Capt. Sushant Singh and co-pilots Capt. R.S. Bhatti and Capt. R.S. Vikas decided to initiate a 'Go Around' reporting an unstable approach," the statement said.

"The decision for "Go Around" activity and diversion was commendable and done in the interest of flight safety. The flight also carried more than adequate fuel reserves."

However, before the landing, the aircraft's "radio altimeters" failed which in turn rendered TCAS (Collision Avoidance System) and ILS (Instrument Landing System) non-functional.

"The experience and expertise of our cockpit crew came handy and they landed safely at the alternate airport at Newark. The crew carefully weighed all options limited by terminal failure and adverse weather and diverted towards Newark," the statement added.

--IANS

rv/nir