Wow !!!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/planes-engine-cover-falls-during-takeoff-manages-to-land-safely/ar-AATE0rc?li=BBnb7KzA flight has landed safely in India after part of the plane's engine covering fell off during takeoff.
The Alliance Air flight took off from Mumbai airport at 6.30 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning.
But a section of the ATR (a Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer) aircraft's engine cowling fell during the departure, leaving one of the plane's engines partly exposed, according to the Times of India newspaper.
The Mumbai air traffic controller reported the issue soon after the flight took off and the engine cowling was recovered from the side of a runway.
"It was reported by Mumbai ATC that the Engine Cowling has been found on runway side after takeoff. It appeared to be from ATR aircraft VT-RKJ at BOM which was operating 91-625 (BOM-BHJ)," a Mumbai airport official told the ANI news agency.
The flight, which had 70 people on board, arrived at its destination in Bhuj, a town in the state of Gujarat, about two hours later. No injuries were reported.
Photos shared on social media showed the four-year-old aircraft's exposed engine after it landed.
The country's aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has launched an investigation."The flight landed safely at Bhuj airport, and an investigation has started against the airlines," a DGCA official told the ANI agency.Captain Amit Singh, an aviation expert, said the incident was likely the result of negligence while the aircraft was undergoing maintenance.
"An incident like this could happen if the cowling isn't secured properly," Singh told the Times of India.
"The aircraft technicians, engineer must have removed the cowling to carry out maintenance or repair. It wasn't detected during the walk around inspection by pilots as well."
Singh added that the loss of the engine cowling could have caused damage to the engine and that the flight should have returned to Mumbai when air traffic controllers noticed the issue.
"If the Mumbai ATC informed the pilots, the flight should have returned to Mumbai, unless it was informed much later by which time it was safer to proceed to Bhuj," he told the newspaper.
"Passengers too might have noticed and informed the crew, in which case, the flight should have returned to Mumbai."
Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, operates flights to 47 destinations in India and a total of about 450 flights a week, according to the airline's website.
The airline and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have been contacted for additional comment.
