Air India A320neo skids off Mumbai runway; all passengers disembark safely

Business Standard

5 days ago

An Air India A320neo skidded off the primary runway at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) while landing on Monday morning. The aircraft veered briefly into an unpaved area, returned to the taxiway, and safely reached the gate. All passengers and crew disembarked without injury, and the aircraft has been grounded for inspection.
As the incident caused minor damage to the primary runway, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL)—which manages and operates the airport—activated the secondary runway to ensure uninterrupted operations.
Industry sources said the aircraft operating flight AI2744 from Kochi encountered the runway excursion amid heavy rain in Mumbai.
Flight diverted to taxiway after brief off-runway movement
A spokesperson for MIAL, led by the Adani Group, confirmed the incident occurred at 09:27 hours. 'An incoming aircraft from Kochi experienced a runway excursion at CSMIA. The airport's emergency response teams were immediately activated to manage the situation. All passengers and crew are safe,' the spokesperson said.
'There are minor damages reported to the airport's primary runway – 09/27. In order to ensure continuity of operations, the secondary runway – 14/32 – has been activated. At CSMIA, safety always remains our highest priority,' the spokesperson added.
CSMIA activates backup amid peak operations
CSMIA is the busiest airport in India in terms of the number of flights handled on a single runway per hour. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, the airport is handling approximately 3,004 flights per week this month. After IndiGo, Air India is the second-largest airline at CSMIA, operating 836 weekly services.
Incident follows deadly AI171 crash last month
Monday's incident follows just weeks after the June 12 crash of Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft (VT-ANB), which killed 241 of the 242 people on board.
The preliminary report released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 12 revealed that fuel supply to both engines was cut off shortly after take-off, causing a dual engine flameout. Though the fuel switches were turned back on approximately 10 seconds later, it was too late to restart the engines. The report stated that the role of technical faults had not been ruled out and did not assign blame.
Amid growing scrutiny, especially after recent international media coverage, AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar on July 17 called such reports 'unfounded' and 'premature'.
He said some foreign publications were drawing conclusions through 'selective and unverified reporting' while the investigation was still ongoing. 'It is too early to reach any definite conclusions,' he said, noting that aviation medicine and psychology experts were also involved. The final report will be released once the investigation concludes.