Air Mauritius plane catches fire in Delhi, take-off aborted
Article in the Times of India today......
NEW DELHI: An Air Mauritius plane with 241 passengers and 11 crew on board aborted take off in New Delhi on Thursday afternoon after the pilot noticed a fire in the undercarriage of the aircraft, airport officials said.
"All the passengers and the crew members were evacuated safely," an official of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, said.
The cause of the fire, which was noticed at around 2.08 pm, is yet to be ascertained. A DIAL official said it could be due to a technical fault in the aircraft. The Air Mauritius plane was to fly to the Mauritius capital Port Louis from New Delhi.
There was no immediate response from Air Mauritius officials in New Delhi, but DIAL officials said passengers were taken to a [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]hotel[/color][/color]. "We are trying to get in touch with the airline to know when and how they plan to fly their passengers to Mauritius," said the DIAL official.
It was a close shave for 241 people, many holidaymakers, when an Air Mauritius plane caught fire after being hit by a bird just as it was taking off from Delhi airport on Thursday.
"Had the fire not extinguished in time or the plane had taken off, it would have definitely blown up either on ground or mid-air. Thankfully, the pilot was smart and did the right thing," an official said.
Ho Hum,......... Was this "official" in charge of anything more complex than an ice cream stand?
Well .. you never know how a fire will evolve Most quickly it is extinct... the better. .. I hear that from a fireman So first .. stop the fire... And after .. go eat a ice cream .
From reports it appears the bird hit the plane (or vice versa) - the pilot hit the brakes. The brakes overheated and generated caused the small fire as the heavy came to a full stop. Passengers were told the reason for the aborted take-off was a bird strike. So they told the Hindustan Times it was a birdstrike which caused the fire. All correct.
New Delhi (PTI): An Air Mauritius plane, with 241 passengers and 11 crew members, had to abort take off after a fire was detected in the under carriage of the aircraft at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Thursday.
"At around 2 pm, the Air Mauritius flight MK 745 was about to take off for its destination to Mauritius, when a fire was detected by the pilot in the under carriage of the aircraft," airport sources said.
The pilot immediately informed the ATC about it and "full emergency" was declared, they said.
The airport fire service was put into service, which immediately rushed to the main runway on which the plane was standing.
The plane was then taken to the taxiway 'D' and firemen doused the flames and passengers were evacuated through emergency doors at around 2.20 pm, they said, adding no one was injured.
Passengers were then take back to the airport in a coach and all passengers were evacuated by 2.40 pm, they added. The main runway remained closed during the whole operation and became operational by 2.25 pm.
Well that seems a little more objective than than the other reports. Nice job by pilot in command if you ask me.
Was not taking notes so please forgive any inconsistencies in my summary.
A bird strike in one of the engines in the A330 caused the pilot to perform a rejected take off. Due to the ambient temperature in Delhi (>40deg Cel) and the high speed and pressure from the breaking action caused the brakes to overheat and the tires to catch fire.
After the RTO the Tower informed the pilot that there was smoke emanating form the under carriage and the pilot ordered a complete evacuation whilst the fire department put out the fire.
The engine contained the strike though will need to be replaced.
Aircraft is the only 330 at MU and is expected to be out of service for about a month whilst it gets a new engine and the undercarriage is repaired.
TwoOneFour: The twist in the story, of course, is that the aircraft sent to rescue the passengers went tech.
That I had not yet heard, but I was informed that this puts more pressure on their 340 fleet to pick up the work load.
Their second 330 was scheduled to come in November (not sure '08 or '09) so a couple of pilots will be on vacation for a month or so with others who will be working a few more hours..
NEWS RELEASE Update on outbound passengers of Air Mauritius Flight MK 745 Delhi. Post the bird strike of Air Mauritius flight MK 745 on July 24th, which led to an aborted take off and passenger evacuation; an aircraft was ferried to fly the passengers to Mauritius and the passengers were put up at Le Meridien and the Maurya Sheraton hotels in New Delhi. The senior most Air Mauritius manager in India, Rajesh Busgheet, immediately flew to Delhi to look after passengers comfort. The replacement aircraft which was ferried from Mauritius and scheduled to depart at 6:00 am from Delhi today, regretably was unable to take off due to a technical fault which is being investigated and rectified by KLM engineers. The delay however meant that the flight crew’s duty time expired. The passengers who had been brought back to the airport have been taken back to hotels where they can rest more comfortably prior to departure, timing of which is to be announced. Air Mauritius sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers by the delay but is guided by its uncompromising commitment to the safety of passengers and crew. 25 July 2008 Air Mauritius is the national carrier of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Created in 1967, it currently operates a fleet of five A340-300, two A340-300E, two A319-100, one A330-200 and two ATR72-500. Air Mauritius presently flies to twenty seven destinations in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Indian Ocean.
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