Eight people including pilot and co-pilot were injured after a private aircraft veered off the runway at the Mumbai airport on Thursday.
“VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating flight from Vizag to Mumbai was involved in runway excursion (veer off) while landing on runway 27 at Mumbai airport. There were 06 passengers and 02 crew member on board.Visibility was 700 metres with heavy rain”, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
According to preliminary information shared by the Mumbai disaster authority, the incident was reported by the Mumbai Fire Brigade at 5:45 pm.
“As informed by MFB and Airport Duty Officer a small private Jet Plane VTDBL (6 passengers and 2 crew on board)skidded off the runway and crashed thereafter at Domestic Airport while landing”, the statement said.
The eight passengers are admitted to the Criticare Asia Hospital in Mumbai’s Andheri East. Co-pilot Neil Diwan has sustained major injuries and will urgently undergo an operation in Criticare Asia hospital.
“We are taking Diwan for an urgent operation”, Dr Deepak Namjoshi, owner of the hospital said.
Diwan has burst fracture of D12 with paraplegia, sternal fracture with anterior mediastinal haemmorage and continous laccerated wounds, while the pilot in command Sunil Bhat had injuries on his forehead, left upper lip, multiple abraisons over right leg and fracture of L1 vertebra.
Dhruv Kotak, CMD Of J M Baxi, who had chartered the aircraft had right arm soft tissue injuries and abrasions on forehead, while his 51-year-old executive assistant Arul Sali had injuries on bilateral parietal scalp.
The crew Kamakshi S had injuries on her forehead. A passenger named K K Krishnadas had fractures on right ankle, left femur and abrasions on forehead.
Lars Soens, a Denmark national had blunt truama and right chest tenderness,three rib fractures with mild haemothorax. Aakaarsh Sethi escaped without any inuries
Divisional Fire officer Pandurang Dudhal of Mumbai Fire Brigade who was leading the rescue said, “We had taken a rescue van to the tarmac. We had to cut the cockpit with the cutter, else it was not possible to rescue the two pilots. We also cut the glass of the cockpit”.
