The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday directed the Union civil aviation ministry to disclose steps it will take to ensure passenger safety and convenience, after the city airport’s main runway had to be shut for 72 hours to clear a SpiceJet aircraft that had overshot it on July 1.
The court noted that it had taken around three days to remove the SpiceJet aircraft as the only Disabled Aircraft Retrieval Kit (DARK) required for the operation was in Mangaluru to clear an Air India Express plane, which had also overshot the runway.
“It does not augur well for the nation that the main runway at its financial capital remains closed for 72 hours,” noted a division bench of justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and justice Gautam Patel, directing the ministry of civil aviation and the Airports Authority of India to file an affidavit on the measures required to ensure such incidents are not repeated.
