SINGAPORE: The pilots of a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight to Mumbai did not try to land in the wrong airport, the airline said in a statement on Tuesday (Dec 5).
The statement was in response to a Times of India report, which said the pilots of flight SQ422 mistakenly made an approach to land at Juhu airport – used by helicopters and small aircraft – instead of Chhatrapati Shivaji airport, the primary international airport in Mumbai.
The report said the aircraft changed its course after the error, and after a go-around it landed on the correct runway of the Chhatrapati Shivaji airport.
The Singapore-Mumbai flight, an Airbus A350, was scheduled to land on Runway 9 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji airport at 10.35am (1.35pm, Singapore time) on Monday. A total of 245 passengers and 14 crew members were on board the flight.
According to SIA, the landing was aborted at about 1,000 feet due to poor visibility, in accordance with standard operating procedures. Mumbai’s air traffic control then vectored the flight for a subsequent approach and the flight landed “uneventfully” at 10.48am, the airline said.
“At no time did the pilots of SQ422 mistake Juhu airport as Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,” it said.
Having only recently done the 09 NPA; I would think the above is what could have happened; me ain’t buying the landing in Juhu Hype...and in any case he went around at 1000’...why such a big deal..