Visakhapatnam: Quick reflexes made Vijayawada-Vizag IndiGo pilot save the flight from major disaster on Friday evening. While landing around 4.30 in the evening, the pilot felt the ATR aircraft was vibrating due to high-speed winds caused by the cyclone Jawad and instead of landing the aircraft, he took it back to the Vijayawada airport to the safety. The air traffic control cleared the flight for landing earlier.
Confirming the incident, Visakhapatnam International Airport K Srinivasa Rao said it was wise decision on the part of the pilot not land in the bad weather.
"The pilot reported unstable approach and decided to go back. Had he landed, there could have been a major disaster. All the passengers would have gone and the aircraft,’’ the director told Deccan Chronicle. Practically he took off few feet above from the runway, said a passenger.
A senior government official in the flight said the aircraft was vibrating as if it was going to crash.
"I was breathless for some seconds,’’ the official told this reporter after landing in Vijayawada.
The airport director said the Air India Express which skidded off the runway and plunged into a gorge in Calicut airport on August 7 last year killing 21passengers including two pilot had faced a similar situation. The pilots after twice going back, took the risk and landed leading to a disaster.
"But today the pilot of IndiGo took a wise decision and returned to Vijayawada saving precious lives,’’ Srinivasa Rao said. Incidentally Srinivasa Rao was the director of the Calicut Airport when the disaster took place.
