Clueless without checklist, says 2nd-time lucky pilot

Mumbai: It wasn’t the first time that Capt Keshri Singh, involved in an air ambulance’s belling landing in Mumbai on Thursday, had luck on his side. “In 2004, Capt Singh was involved in an accident in Kota, Rajasthan, after his Cessna 206 aircraft hit an electric pole. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but he and the six passengers on board survived. He sustained grievous injuries though,’’ said a source.

- Manju.V

In Thursday’s serious incident, an inquiry has been initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced it will conduct an audit of Jet Serve Aviation Pvt Ltd, the operator.

“There is no checklist on landing with a lost wheel and belly landing is what most pilots come across only in flying school textbooks. But we had no option,” said Capt Singh. “About 30 minutes after our 5 pm takeoff post refuelling in Nagpur, the air traffic control (ATC) informed us about the wheel. I couldn’t believe it. I had them send a photograph to our company to verify if that wheel was indeed ours,” he said. The final confirmation only came after the pilots carried out a low flyover Mumbai airport runway 27, flying at 200 feet with lowered landing gear. The air traffic controllers binoculared in and confirmed the aircraft had only one wheel left on its main landing gear, apart from a nose wheel.