A SpiceJet flight from Jaipur skid and overshot the main runway while landing at the Mumbai airport amid heavy rains on Monday, although none of the passengers were hurt in the incident, an airline spokesperson said.
Due to the incident, the main runway of the Mumbai airport is likely to remain closed for flight operations till Thursday as it will take more time to remove the plane, according to officials.
The incident happened on Monday around 11.45 pm when the SpiceJet flight SG6237 flying from Jaipur to Mumbai carrying 167 passengers and crew overshot the runway after landing amid heavy rains.
The aircraft is stuck partially on the runway and the nearby grass area.
"A SpiceJet flight SG6237, which was coming from Jaipur to Mumbai, skid and overshot the main runway around 11.45 pm on Monday night. All passengers are safe. The main runway has been temporarily closed," a source said.
Heavy rains in Mumbai have already disrupted operations at the airport, with at least 52 flights being cancelled and 55 flights being diverted on Tuesday.
A team of engineers and technicians from Air India has started work to remove the stuck plane with the Disabled Aircraft Recovery Kit.
The kit, used to remove stuck aircraft, is only available with the national carrier, an Air India spokesperson said.
"A 150-metre long ramp is being prepared to enable push the aircraft out of the grassy area. Air India's disable aircraft removal kit has been mobilised," an official of the Mumbai International Airport Limited said.
The MIAL is the airport operator.
"Currently, secondary runway is in use. Our team is trying their best to bring the main runway back into operation and this may take up to 48 hours," MIAL said in a tweet.
Mumbai airport has two runways and the second one can handle only up to 35 aircraft movements per hour while the main runway can handle 48 plane movements every hour, according to MIAL.
The city's airport is the second busiest in the country, handling around 1,000 arrivals and departures per day. The airport in Delhi is the busiest as it handles around 1,300 movements per day.
Many subsequent flights have been diverted to other airports such as Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, the sources said.
"A Korean Air flight KE655 which was coming from Seoul to Mumbai has been diverted to Ahmedabad due to the incident and bad weather conditions," the sources said.
Similarly, a Lufthansa flight LH756, which was coming from Frankfurt, and an Air India flight AI331, which was coming from Bangkok had to be diverted to other airports, the sources said.
The Monday's incident was the second in one week of a SpiceJet aircraft overshooting the runway.
On June 30, a SpiceJet plane from Bhopal veered off the runway at Surat airport due to heavy rainfall and wind.
