Air India Express Calicut-Dammam flight makes emergency landing in T'puram after tail strike

AirIndia Express flight from Calicut to Dammam in Saudi Arabia with 168 passengers onboard was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram on Friday due to technical issues, informed an Airline spokesperson.

Emergency landing was done after plane's tail brushed ground during takeoff

The Air India Express flight from Karipur Airport to Dammam safely landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport after it was diverted earlier. Just after the tail brushed the ground during takeoff and the oil tank ruptured, spilling into the water, airline officials diverted the flight. The oil tank was alsoreportedly left open after the plane took off.

What is a Tailstrike?

In aviation, a tailstrike or tail strike occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground or other stationary object. This can happen with a fixed-wing aircraft with tricycle undercarriage, in both takeoff where the pilot rotates the nose up too rapidly, or in landing where the pilot raises the nose too sharply during final approach, often in attempting to land too near the runway threshold.

Another incident reported last week

An Air India Express flight approaching Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai sought assistance from the airport authorities during its landing on Sunday.

No emergency declared

“The pilot felt something uneasy during landing and sought assistance from the ATC. It was a normal landing at the scheduled arrival time of 6.30 AM. No emergency was declared by the pilot,” an airline source said.

Post checking the IX540 Air India Express flight on landing, it was found that the top layer of a wheel of the nose gear of the aircraft had de-capped, he added. “There is nothing serious about that,” he concluded.

The plane was reportedly towed to the flight bay later and all passengers deboarded safely.