Prabhu orders high-level probe into Air India mishap, orders hiring of 3rd party auditor for airline safety

Trichy/Mumbai: Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has ordered a high-level probe into the Air India mishap and has announced the hiring of a third party auditor for the safety review of the airlines. "In order to have continuous attention towards air safety, I have also ordered concerned officials to put in place a regular 'safety compliance report' of all airlines. Safety of passengers is of paramount importance for us," the Minister said. "Growth can't be at the expense of safety," he added. Passengers onboard an Air India Express - Boeing B737-800 flight from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli to Dubai escaped a major accident after the wheels of the plane hit the airport outer wall while taking off in the wee hours of Friday. The flight IX-611 carrying 130 passengers along with six crew members flew around 1.20 a.m. and was then diverted to Mumbai where it made a safe emergency landing around 5.40 a.m. Captain D. Ganesh Babu received an alert about the incident by the ground staff at Trichy. He reported that the aircraft system were operating normally but diverted the flight to Mumbai as "a precautionary measure", said an Air India official. The passengers were shifted to another flight to Dubai with a fresh crew. According to news agency IANS, the beleaguered national carrier has derostered both Captain Babu, with flying experience of 3,600 hours on Boeing 737 including 500 hours as a commander, and co-pilot and first officer Captain Anurag, who has flying experience of around 3,000 hours, pending investigation. While the extent of damage to the Boeing's wheels is not known, a portion of the nearly five foot compound wall at the Tiruchirappalli Airport was damaged, an airport official told IANS. Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister N. Natarajan visited the Trichy airport and inspected the damage.