Plane with Chidambaram develops snag mid air, lands safely

Chennai, Oct 2 (PTI) A Coimbatore-bound Jet Airways plane
carrying Union Home Minister of India P Chidambaram and 63
others was Friday forced to return here after it developed a
technical snag mid-air, prompting the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) to seek an explanation from the airline.

The problem in the second engine of the 'ATR-72' plane
was noticed 30 minutes after the aircraft was airborne,
following which the pilot sought permission for a "safe
landing", airport officials said.

As the Air Traffic Control (ATC) gave the green signal to
the pilot of Jet flight '9W2753' to land in Chennai, the
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and
officials of Airports Authority of India put in place standby
precautionary measures, including fire tenders, they said.

However, the pilot managed to steer the snag-hit flight
with three crew members to a safe landing, the officials said.

Chidambaram and rest of the passengers left by another
plane to Coimbatore, where he attended an official function.

The DGCA has sought details on the technical problem in
one of the engines, they said.

Chidambaram sought to downplay the incident, saying it
was a "very small thing."

"There is nothing major. It's a very small thing. Don't
make it a big issue," Chidambaram told reporters in
Coimbatore.

He said there was some technical snag in the aircraft,
following which it had to return to Chennai airport. PTI CORR
RAI


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