Turkish plane skids off, Mumbai airport's main runway shut till 8pm

Mumbai - 02 Sep 2011: A Turkish Airways flight TK-720, flying fromIstanbulto Mumbai carrying 97 people on board including crew members veered off a rapid exit taxiway after landing atChhatrapati Shivaji International Airportin Mumbai at 0413 hrs on Friday morning.

There were, however, no injuries to anyone on the aircraft.

Mumbai airport's main runway will remain shut till 8 pm. With only one of the two Mumbai airport's runways operational, passengers can expect delays.

Flights from Mumbai to Mangalore and vice-versa have been delayed by half and hour to an hour due to Turkish Airways runway excursion incident.

A freighter flying in fromSingaporewas also diverted.

All flight operations have been moved to secondary runway. The average delay in arrival is 15 minutes and departure 30 minutes. Due to rains, visibility fell below the required minima, so Mumbai airport was closed for flights from 08.40am to 08.52am.

Efforts are currently underway to remove the aircraft and clear the runway for normal operations but it could go on for a large part of the day.

source: TOI