Delhi Airport: AOCC declares 'Full Emergency' as Jaipur-bound flight returns due to landing gear issues

In a close shave, the Jaipur-bound Alliance Air flight (wholly owned subsidiary of Air India), on Monday was returned to its starting point at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) after a full Emergency was declared by Airports Operations Control Centre (AOCC) at IGI about 8:21 PM, according to a statement released by IGI airport.

The statement further says that the flight which departed from Delhi at 8:13 PM was returned due to landing gear problem, specifically in the nose wheel which is a landing wheel under the nose of an aircraft. IGI stated that the flight safely landed at 8:25 PM with all 63 passengers on board.

Sources report that the runway has been cleared and another aircraft has reportedly been arranged which may take off around 10.15 PM

'Tail tip' nearly causes tragedy for Dammam-Kozhikode Air India flight, all 180 passengers safe

DGCA crackdown on landing incident 

After five back-to-back landing mishaps, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in July, had issued a message to airlines expressing their concern over the rise in number incidents of overshooting, skidding, hard landing, etc. It further states that heads of flight safety must include an instruction to refrain from landing with an unstabilised approach during inclement weather conditions in their safety briefings to pilots.

DGCA Cracks Whip Over Spate Of Recent Aircraft Overshooting And Tail-tip Incidents, Issues Notice To 12 Pilots Day After Expressing Serious Concern

Five landing incidents

• Kolkata - Spice Jet veering off-center:  A SpiceJet Pune- Kolkata flight nearly ran off the runway at  Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata after landing. The flight veered off to the right of the center line and ended up damaging four-runway lights. 
• Mumbai - Spice Jet Aircraft overshooting: A Spice Jet Jaipur-Mumbai aircraft had skidded overshot the runway at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport as it landed on the runway.
• Kozhikode - Air India 'Tail Tip': An Air India Dammam-Kozhikode bound flight with 180 passengers onboard suffered 'tail tip' at Kozhikode airport during landing after its tail touched down the runway.
• Surat - Spice Jet Aircraft overshooting: A SpiceJet flight from Bhopal overshot the runway after landing at the Surat airport in Gujarat. 
• Mangalore - Air India overshooting: A tragedy was averted at the Mangalore international airport as an Air India flight coming from Dubai overshot the runway and was stopped just in time.