Private jet skids on runway, crashes at Mumbai airport amid heavy rain
Mumbai: Amid heavy rain, a private plane slid off the runway and crashed at Mumbai airport on Thursday evening, media reports said
All eight people on board—five passengers and three crew members (including a pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendant), have been hospitalized, news agency ANI reported citing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
The severity of injuries remains uncertain, and fortunately, no fatalities have been reported thus far.
After safety assessments and approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the runway has been cleared of debris, and regular operations have resumed.
While briefly closed, the runway led to the diversion of five Vistara Airlines flights.
#BreakingNews
— Aviator Amarnath Kumar (@amar1301) September 14, 2023
The plane crashed at Mumbai airport during landing. Aircraft Registration VT-DBL, Lear 45XL.#planecrash #vtdbl #VT_DBL #LEAR45XL #Mumbaiairport pic.twitter.com/pGQMWWkuQG
The distressing CCTV footage of the crash indicates that the plane made a forceful impact on the ground and the aircraft's body appeared to skid along the ground for a distance.
Other visuals from Mumbai airport depicted overcast skies and the wreckage of the plane situated on the far end of the runway. Initial images showed the wreckage still engulfed in flames, said the report
Emergency services successfully extinguished the blaze.
As per the national aviation regulator, the DGCA, the aircraft involved was a Learjet 45—a super-light business jet with a capacity of nine seats, produced by a subsidiary of Canada-based Bombardier Aviation. It was registered to VSR Ventures, believed to be a real estate development firm based in Bengaluru.
The plane was en route from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.