Air India plane veers off runway at Mumbai airport; passengers, crew safe

New Delhi: An Air India aircraft from Kochi veered off the runway while landing in heavy rain at the city airport, following which operations in one of the runways were temporarily suspended on Monday morning.

All passengers and crew are safe.

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"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," Mumbai airport said in a statement.

According to sources, three tyres of the plane suffered a burst besides damage to the engine due to the incident. "Engine sucked up a bunch of dirt after getting into the mud," the source added.

An airline spokesperson said the flight AI2744, operating from Kochi to Mumbai, experienced heavy rain during landing, resulting in a runway excursion after touchdown.

"The aircraft taxied safely to the gate and all passengers and crew members have since disembarked. The aircraft has been grounded for checks," the Air India spokesperson said in a statement.

A source said operations on one of the airport's runways were shut after the excursion and then restarted. In the statement, Mumbai airport said the aircraft experienced a runway excursion at 9.27 AM and the airport's emergency response teams were immediately activated to manage the runway excursion.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in the city, one of the country's busiest airports, has two runways.

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