Surat: SpiceJet aircraft overshot runway, all passengers safe

SURAT: As many as 43 passengers of Bhopal-Surat SpiceJet flight had their hearts in the mouth after the aircraft overshot the runway from Vesu end and came to a screeching to halt on Sunday evening.
The aircraft overshot the Runway End Safety Area (RESA) at arouind 8:20pm. RESA is a surface surrounding the runway prepared for reducing the risk of damage to an aircraft in an event of overshooting, undershooting or excursion from the runway. It is a semi rough surface of stones and sand.
All the passengers and crew were safe and that they were brought to the terminal area unhurt.
Sources at the airport that is managed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) said SpiceJet aircraft (SG3722) landed from the Vesu-end-22 and the pilot could not apply brake on time to stop the plane due to low-visibility.
“The flight took off from Bhopal airport and landed in Surat at 8:20 pm. The aircraft shot in the RESA, but all the passengers are safe. Our emergency response teams acted immediately and all passengers were brought to the terminal area in buses,” said airport director, Sanjay Kumar Panigrahi.
Panigrahi added, “The airport has been shut for operations till further intimation as the aircraft is still in the RESA area and it will be removed only after machinery will be put in place. We are trying our best to clear the runway.”
A source told that the pilot landed ahead of the runway and he could not apply brakes till the aircraft went into the RESA. The aircraft has swerved off the runway and stuck in the RESA.
A SpiceJet spokesperson told TOI: “Spice Jet Q400 aircraft operating on SG3722 on Bhopal-Surat sector overshot the runway after landing . The passengers were deplaned normally and all are safe.”
A passenger onboard the flight told TOI: “There was a big sound in the aircraft after it landed. There was panic among the passengers and we did not know was going on. Suddenly, the plane came to a grinding halt. We saw from the window that the plane was not on the runway but in the soil. I had gone to Bhopal to attend an official meeting.”
The runway length at Surat airport is 2,905 metres. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had displaced 615 metres of runway last year due to the building height issue.