Air India emergency landing: Pilot screamed ‘May Day’, says writer William Dalrymple
New Delhi: British historian and writer William Dalrymple, who was onboard Air India’s Khajuraho-Varanasi-Delhi flight that made an emergency landing in New Delhi, says there were a lot of signs that indicated that there was a problem with the aircraft.
Dalrymple claims that Air India allegedly knew there was some problem with the hydraulics system of the flight and that it was due to this reason the flight was initially even cancelled. All the passengers were made to evacuate the plane at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh.
“But after an hour, we were told that the flight would take off. Probably this was because of pressure on the (Air India) station manager but it was a wrong decision,” Dalrymple said according to reports.
“The pilot had alerted Delhi and the emergency services were there. When we touched down, the pilot said twice: ‘May Day, May Day, evacuate passengers.’ There’s no way they (Air India) can deny that there was a fault (with the aircraft). “, Dalrymple said recollecting the anxious moments during the emergency landing.
“It was the longest panic-stricken two minutes as we waited to be evacuated. The lights had gone out and we were doused with water as we came out because the aircraft was being sprayed with water.”
And despite the scare experienced by the passengers, Air India has not offered any explanation nor has it tendered any apology to the passengers, Dalrymple said.
“When we landed in New Delhi and were waiting for our baggage, I spoke with an Air India technician or engineer who was on the aircraft, and he said he had been terrified because of the problem with the aircraft and had been chanting a mantra throughout the flight,” he said.
Not every day your plane catches fire & you leave by a slide while being doused with fire hoses, but I'm home & fine http://t.co/YQe7tvHcD6
— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) September 7, 2015About 150 passengers and crew on board Air India flight AI-405 from Varanasi to Delhi had a close shave after the aircraft suffered from a hydraulic leak mid-air, 80 miles from Delhi and had to land at Delhi airport in emergency conditions.
It led to heavy sparking at the nose wheel, and reportedly a minor fire and fumes from one of the rear wheels probably due to hard braking. The pilot then opted for emergency evacuation of all passengers from the aircraft following which “four to five passengers suffered minor injuries”, Delhi airport sources said.
In a statement, Air India said, “Air India flight AI-405 Varanasi- Delhi had an emergency landing due to hydraulic leak. This resulted in few sparks at the nose wheel. There was no fire. No passenger was injured.”
