Srinagar Airport Incident: Navi Mumbai Indigo Flight Hits Docking Pole During Parking, All Passengers Safe

Srinagar: An IndiGo flight that reached Srinagar from Navi Mumbai came in contact with the Visual Docking Guidance System (VDGS) pole while parking at the airport on Friday morning. A large number of passengers and crew members were on board the plane. It is a matter of relief that no one has been reported injured in this incident. After the accident, the passengers were safely deboarded from the plane and airport operations continued normally.

How did the accident happen while parking?

According to airport officials, IndiGo flight number 6E 225 (VT-NOG) was parked at bay number six around 9:02 am on Friday. During this time the aircraft came in contact with the VDGS pole. This system is used to guide the aircraft to the correct position in the parking bay.

Immediately after the incident, the concerned employees at the airport started taking action as part of the security procedure. The passengers and crew members present in the plane were evacuated safely. For this, instead of the normal aerobridge, manual aircraft stairs were used.

Will the incident be investigated?

The airport authority said that the causes of the incident and the circumstances surrounding it will be investigated as per the prescribed procedure. The investigation will try to find out under what circumstances the aircraft came in contact with the VDGS pole during parking. At present, no technical or human error has been considered the cause of the accident. The final conclusion will come only after the investigation is completed.

Will Srinagar Airport also be expanded?

Amidst the accident, major information related to the expansion of Srinagar International Airport has also come to light. About Rs 1,667 crore is to be spent on the proposed expansion project. Its objective is to significantly increase the passenger capacity of the airport from the current level.

According to the information given by the Jammu and Kashmir Government to the Home Ministry, after the completion of the expansion project, Srinagar Airport will be able to handle about one crore passengers annually. The development work of the new terminal and its associated facilities is targeted to be completed by 2031.

What will change with the expansion of Srinagar Airport?

With the increase in the number of passengers, the need to strengthen the terminal, parking, passenger facilities and other essential infrastructure at Srinagar Airport has also increased. The proposed expansion is being considered an important step in this direction. This is expected to help handle the increasing air traffic in future. At present, flight operations at the airport have not been affected after Friday's incident and further processing is going on, giving priority to the safety of passengers.