Three days after the Boeing 737 of Air Sahara overshot the runway at Mumbai airport, efforts are still being made by the Airport Authority of India to tow the aircraft from the soft land to the tracks as inbound and outbound flights were delayed by about 30 minutes to one hour on Wednesday, airport sources said.
Despite the main runway being rendered operational, the flights of most airlines continued to be delayed as the grounded aircraft of Air Sahara continues to be positioned on the soft land, the sources said.
Meanwhile, efforts are being made to tow the aircraft to a remote bay and once that is accomplished, the airlines may take it to some place where the aircraft could be serviced, the sources said.
Airbags are placed beneath the aircraft to lift it from the soft land and bring it on the tracks, the sources said, adding that a 160-metre road has been freshly laid to the same spot where the aircraft was positioned. Attempts made on Tuesday to tow the aircraft did not materialise.
Air Sahara's Kolkata-Mumbai Boeing 737 missed touchdown by several metres while landing on October 9 and overshot the main runway which was closed immediately and secondary runway was made available.
Meanwhile, Director General of Civil Aviation is probing the incident involving Air Sahara's Boeing 737 mishap, which resulted in closure of main runway for long time, the sources added.
