Plane that was to land in city takes U-turn

MUMBAI:AN Iran Air flight from Tehran carrying 200 passengers aborted its intended landing in Mumbai, even after descending by 6,000 feet, and flew back to the origin country owing to unfavourable conditions in the city.

Flight IR 810 circled in the Mumbai airspace for around an hour before the pilots decided to return to land at an airport in Zahedan, southeastern Iran. After landing in Mumbai, the flight was scheduled to depart as IR 811 at 1.30pm. As a result, around 150 passengers that were to board IR 811 were stranded at the departure area at the international terminal T2

An official from Iran Air’s Mumbai office said that the flight that had taken off around 7.30am (local time) from Tehran and landed around 5pm (IST). “The aircraft is now expected to land in Mumbai around 2am, after which the passengers will be able to fly to Tehran,” said the official. “All passengers are being given lunch, tea and dinner.”

Airport officials in Mumbai found the pilot’s decision to return to Tehran unusual, as he could have landed the aircraft at an airport close to Mumbai.

An airport official said, “Airlines declare and file the name of an airport apart from the destination airport. This is done so that the pilot can land at the alternative airport listed in case of an emergency at the destination airport.”

According to air traffic control (ATC) officers, the airline had listed an Iranian airport as their alternate airport to land in case of any emergency situation. A tweet by Iran Republic News Agency (IRNA) read, “Iran Air plane which was en route to Mumbai from Tehran, was forced to make emergency landing in Zahedan in southeastern Iran, because of bad weather conditions in India. Flight 810 had left Tehran’s Imam Khomeini’s International Airport for Mumbai, but was forced to land in Zahedan at 13:50 hours local time (09:20 GMT).”

A senior Airports Authority of India official said the aircraft may not have had the technology to land in inclement weather, as the aircraft is 25 years old. An airline official in Mumbai has denied emergency landing at Zahedan.

WHILE AN IRANINAN NEWS AGENCY CLAIMED THAT THE AIRLINE MADE AN EMERGENCY LANDING AT ZAHEDAN, AN AIRLINE OFFICIAL IN MUMBAI HAS DENIED AN EMERGENCY LANDING