Air India, Jet flights escape disaster at Mumbai airport

September 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI/MUMBAI - The strike by pilots of national air carrier Air India entered its third day on Monday, causing discomfort to the passengers across the country. Passengers faced the brunt, as last minute cancellation of the flights led to an upheaval in their schedules.

September 12th, 2009 MUMBAI - A Delhi-Mumbai Air India flight had a narrow escape when a dog was sighted on the main runway as the aircraft was preparing to land here Saturday evening, officials said. The incident occurred around 6.30 p.m.

September 12th, 2009 MUMBAI - Jet Airways resumed operations on a modest scale with 37 flights Sunday after a crippling five-day strike by pilots ended overnight. Two of the flights - Mumbai-Dubai and return - were operated on an international route.

August 23rd, 2009 MUMBAI - Two private planes took off almost simultaneously from the same runway at the Mumbai airport Sunday morning, narrowly averting an air disaster, an official said Sunday. A probe has been ordered into the incident by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the official said.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The three Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers carrying President Pratibha Patil and her entourage had landed without clearance even as an Air India aircraft was readying for take off, an investigation into the near-collision at Mumbai airport has found. The joint investigation team constituted Feb 19 to investigate the near-collision Feb 9 at Mumbai Airport was submitted June 23, as was reported by IANS.

May 31st, 2009 MUMBAI/NEW DELHI - A major disaster was averted at the Mumbai airport Sunday when two passenger aircraft proceeded for take off simultaneously from two runways, but their pilots stopped the planes in the nick of time, airport officials said. A probe has been ordered into the near miss.

May 31st, 2009 MUMBAI - In a horrendous incident which could have turned disastrous at the Mumbai airport, two flights -Jet Airways and Air India- were given signal to take off simultaneously on intersecting runways on Sunday. The drastic incident took place as the Air Traffic Control (ATC) gave take off clearance to both the flights at the same time, which was reported to be around 10 am.

May 25th, 2009 MUMBAI - Three people carried out a dacoity Monday morning at the Air India cargo complex adjacent to the domestic airport here, an airport official said. The trio, armed with revolvers, barged into the high security zone and overpowered the security guard after threatening to shoot him.

April 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Low-cost carrier IndiGo Wednesday introduced six more new flights from Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata, increasing its daily flights to 131. The new flights will operate on the Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Mumbai and Kolkata-Goa via Mumbai sectors.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - National carrier Air India Sunday launched its daily Delhi-Chicago flight via Frankfurt, the airline's official said. The flight took off around 1.50 a.m.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Friday gave its nod for a development fee on air passengers travelling out of Mumbai airport, who will have to pay Rs.100 per trip for domestic flights and Rs.600 for flights abroad. The approval comes after a similar decision for passengers flying out of Delhi.

February 9th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun a probe into Monday's incident where an Air India aircraft escaped crashing into President Pratibha Patil's entourage of helicopters at the airport here, an official with the regulator said. The president was inside one of three choppers that were part of her entourage, and it was in a fraction of seconds that the mishap was averted at 9:17 a.m.

February 8th, 2009 MUMBAI - Nearly 170 passengers and 10 crew members of an Air India flight had a close shave Monday when a military chopper came in its path just as the passenger jet was about to take-off. The helicopter was part of President Pratibha Patil's entourage, an Air India spokesperson said.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Turkey's flagship carrier Turkish Airlines will start daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Istanbul from Monday, a top official said here. At present, the airline operates four weekly flights from Mumbai and three from New Delhi to Istanbul.

January 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Territorial Army (TA) personnel have been deployed at the Delhi airport to ensure smooth flight operations in the wake of the nationwide strike by public sector oil company employees, an airport official said Thursday. The strike, started Wednesday, has hit refuelling services in many other airports, including Mumbai, leading to brief flight delays.