Air India pilot sights chopper on Mumbai runway, aborts take-off

September 14th, 2009 Report blames pilot for deadly Ark. plane crashLITTLE ROCK, Ark.

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.

August 22nd, 2009 CHENNAI - It was a close shave for 141 passengers and crew of a Chennai-bound Air India flight as the pilot managed to safely land the aircraft here Saturday despite a tyre burst while taking off from Singapore. "The officials of Singapore airport suspected a tyre burst in the Chennai-bound Air India flight when they found pieces of rubber on their runway and warned us, as well as the pilot," an official of the Chennai airport told IANS.

July 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - Passengers aboard a Saudia airliner on a Jeddah-Mumbai flight had a scare when its tyres burst during landing at Mumbai airport Saturday evening, an official said. The Saudia flight, SV-744, was landing around 6.30 p.m.

May 31st, 2009 MUMBAI - An aviation disaster was averted at Mumbai airport Sunday when two aircraft got clearance to take off simultaneously from two runways but the pilots stopped the planes in the nick of time, an airport official said. The incident occurred at 7.27 a.m.

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 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following the attempt recently to sabotage industrialist Anil Ambani's helicopter in Mumbai, India's aviation regulator Tuesday said more security was being planned for the fleets of private choppers and aircraft in the country. With new heliports planned for cities like New Delhi and Mumbai, an enhanced safety environment will be provided to such a fleet that could go a long way in preventing incidents like the near-collision involving President Pratibha Patil's chopper Feb 9.

April 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Four people have been detained in connection with Thursday's suspected sabotage of industrialist Anil Ambani's chopper that he was supposed to have flown from the Mahalaxmi Race Course helipad to his office in Navi Mumbai before the incident was detected. 'We are still investigating the matter and questioning the people concerned with the helicopter's maintenance,' said Senior Inspector S.M.

March 17th, 2009 MANILA - A Philippine man nearly caused a disaster in an eastern city when he used an airport runway to teach his girlfriend to drive just as a passenger plane was about to land, an official said Tuesday. A Cebu Pacific Air flight carrying 80 passengers was descending at the weekend at the airport in Legazpi City, 360 km south-east of Manila, when the pilot quickly pulled up after he saw a passenger van moving fast on the runway.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Thursday said that human error led to the Feb 9 incident in which President Pratibha Patil's chopper narrowly escaped crashing into an Air India aircraft in Mumbai. 'There was human error in the incident, the matter is being investigated.

February 22nd, 2009 SHIMLA - The Himachal Pradesh government does not plan to conduct an inquiry into the incident in which a chopper used by VVIPs landed at the wrong place in Una town, an official said. 'There is no need for conducting any inquiry into the incident (in which the chopper landed at a wrong place).

February 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI/BANGALORE - Even as Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major Wednesday gave a clean chit to his chopper pilots who narrowly escaped colliding with a passenger aircraft at the Mumbai airport two days earlier, the aviation watchdog declined to be drawn into the blame game, saying the probe was still underway.

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/NEW DELHI - In a major safety breach, a Delhi-bound Air India flight with 170 passengers and 10-member crew narrowly escaped colliding with a helicopter which was part of President Pratibha Patil's fleet, minutes before taking off from Mumbai Monday morning. Patil herself was inside one of the three choppers, and it was in a fraction of seconds that the mishap was averted at 9:30 a.m., spokespersons for both the President's Office and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

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.