Passengers on board an Air India (domestic) flight had a narrow escape when a rear tyre of the aircraft got deflated after landing at the New Delhi IGI airport on Tuesday morning. The aircraft, which had flown on the Mumbai-Indore-Bhopal-Delhi sector, landed at Delhi and then taxied down when ground staff noted sparks from the tyre.
Fire-tender vehicles were then rushed to extinguish the sparks. The DGCA has ordered a probe into the incident. An Air India official said that a “layer” had come off the tyres and that the tyres had not burst. The government stated that the incident could have occurred on account of high summer temperatures and said there was “no safety breach”. The aircraft landed at Delhi at about 10.40 am.
In a statement issued, the civil aviation ministry said, “The tyre de-capped but did not burst. It is not an uncommon occurrence when the day temperatures are high. There was no safety breach. The DGCA will enquire into the incident.”
Aviation sources said that a few tyre pieces were found near the runway soon after the Air India aircraft landed.
The runway was then thoroughly inspected. The pilot of an aircraft that was to land next was asked to “go around”.
Sources said Air India would also investigate what led to the deflating of the tyre and whether there was any sharp pull of the brakes that led to this.