Air India Plane Has Narrow Escape During Take-Off On Pune Airport Runway

The pilots of an Air India Airbus 321 flight were in for a shock when hurtling down the Pune airport runway for take-off after a jeep and a man was spotted directly in their path.

The plane, which was already travelling at 222 kmph had to immediately engage in a premature take-off, resulting in damage to the fuselage. Flight AI 852 landed in Delhi safely from where it was to proceed to Srinagar but the plane has now been grounded.

(Courtesy-FlightAware)

An inquiry has been initiated. "During take-off roll while at 120 knots speed, crew saw a jeep and a person on the runway, to avoid conflict they did early rotation. The aircraft has safely landed at Delhi," a DGCA official stated.

An Air India spokesperson was quoted as saying that the A321 aircraft that was scheduled to operate AI 825 to Srinagar was observed to have certain marks towards the empennage area.”