GOA- Tata Group-owned Air India (AI) pilots mistakenly attempted to take off from the taxiway at Goa Airport on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
The incident occurred at the new Manohar International Airport (GOX) in Mopa, Goa.
Air India Taxiway Take off
According to reports, the alert Air Traffic Controller (ATC) notified Air India pilots that they were attempting to take off from the taxiway and not from the runway. Following this, the crew immediately rejected the takeoff.
At the point ATC alerted, the Air India plane was over 100 knots and was expected to lift off. However, they were able to reject the takeoff timely and returned safely back at the terminal.
The incident occurred on Air India flight AI2592 from Goa (GOX) to Hyderabad (HYD). It was operated by Airbus A320neo, registered as VT-EXT, a 7.7-year-old plane.
According to FlightRadar24 data, the Air India flight attempted to take off from Taxiway A, instead of Runway 10/28 which is confirmed by the airport map.
As per the data, the Air India flight began to roll at 3:47 AM UTC, and within a minute it rejected the takeoff. The A320neo successfully stopped at A2 point as seen in the map.
It used the runway to make a turn and returned to the terminal. The airline canceled its flight following the incident. Luckily no injuries were reported onboard the aircraft to any passengers or crew.
The Indian watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun its probe into the incident. It has marked this incident as a serious breach of safety. Furthermore, DGCA has ordered Air India to submit a detailed analysis report on this incident.
Assumptions: Why did It happen?
Such incidents are extremely rare and can occur once in thousands of flights if not millions.
I think (just an assumption and should wait for official confirmation), that Air India pilots got confused with the new airport markings and could have thought the taxiway A as RWY 10/28.
While there are chances that the crew are not properly trained with Goa Airport configurations.
Also, there is a possibility that the flight is likely operated by a new recruit or pilot who never flew from the GOX earlier.
Well, all these are just assumptions and possibilities and we will wait for the official probe report by the airline and the final report by DGCA India.
Similar Incident
Well, this is not the sole incident, a few similar incidents have occurred in the past.
In February 2024, IndiGo Airlines (6E) aircraft experienced a navigational anomaly during landing at Delhi International Airport (DEL). This triggered a brief operational disruption that temporarily closed runway 28/10 for 15 minutes.
The Airbus A320, operating flight 6E2221 from Amritsar, encountered navigation challenges upon approach, ultimately missing its intended taxiway and arriving at the runway’s dead end.
Similarly, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (WN) flight WN4805, traveling from Portland, Maine to Baltimore, Maryland, took off from the closed runway at 5:42 a.m., despite a clear Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) explicitly prohibiting runway usage until 5:45 a.m.
Feature and Other Images by Harsh Tekriwal | AvgeekwithLens
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News
