Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and other passengers onboard a Jet Airways flight had a narrow escape on Sunday when their plane had to abort landing and take a 'go-around' after the pilot spotted another aircraft on the runway.
"Jet Airways flight (9W-913), which had Speaker Chatterjee also in it, took off from Kolkata this evening and arrived at Delhi airport at around 7.45 p.m. As the aircraft was descending to land, after getting clearance from the ATC, the Jet Airways pilot spotted another plane on the runway," sources said.
The Southern China Airlines was on the ground and was taxiing for take off on runway 29. The aircraft came onto the runway due to some apparent communication gap.
On seeing another plane on the runway, the pilot aborted the landing and took a "go-around".
Chatterjee's plane had to hover for about 15 minutes over the airspace before it finally landed safely, the sources said.
The Speaker complimented the pilot and the Air Traffic Controllers for his presence of mind and averting an accident, sources close to Chatterjee said.
The passengers were not informed about the aborted landing that very moment but were briefed after the aircraft landed safely, the sources said.