Private jet skids off Mumbai airport, breaks apart: What we know so far

A private plane with eight people on board skidded off the runway at the Mumbai airport while landing on Thursday. The incident occurred in the backdrop of Mumbai witnessing heavy rains. While no casualties have been reported thus far, the two pilots are said to be in critical condition. The six passengers on board are also injured. Let’s take a closer look at what we know: As per The Times of India, the incident occurred at 5.02 pm on runway 27.

The aircraft in question is a Learjet 45 VT-DBL belonging to VSR Ventures.

The Learjet 45 VT-DBL is a nine-seater super-light business jet manufactured by a division of Canada-based Bombardier Aviation, as per NDTV. VSR Ventures is thought to be a real estate firm based in Bengaluru. The flight, which was landing at Mumbai, originated in Andhra Pradesh’s Vishakhapatnam. [caption id=“attachment_13124602” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The nine-seater Learjet 45 VT-DBL belonging to VSR Ventures skidded off the runway at Mumbai airport while landing amid heavy rain. ANI[/caption] Six passengers and two pilots were on board the private jet. As per The Times of India, the flight manifest listed Dhruv Kotak, Lars Sorensen, KK Krishnadas, Aakarsh, Shethi , Arul Sali, and Kamakshi as being on board the flight. The plane veered off the runway while landing amid heavy rain. The visibility at the time of the incident was 700 metres. An official told Indian Express, that when a plane lands on Runway Number 27, it usually moves towards Juhu. However, this plane changed direction and turned 189 degrees. As per NDTV , CCTV footage shows the plane slamming into the ground and the body of the aircraft skidding for a bit before breaking up. The wreckage then caught fire but the blaze was quickly put out by emergency responders. [caption id=“attachment_13124612” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] While no casualties have been reported thus far, the two pilots are said to be in critical condition. ANI[/caption] All eight injured were rushed to Criticare Hospital in Mumbai’s Andheri East, as per BQPrime.

Indian Express reported that both pilots were critically injured.

“On 14.09.2023, M/s VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating flight from Vizag to Mumbai with 06 passengers and 02 crew members on board, veered off the runway at Mumbai International Airport. The incident occurred at approximately 17:08 PM today. There are no casualties. The CSMIA’s airside team is on ground to assist with the clearance onsite," a spokesperson from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) told News18. Both runways at Mumbai airport were then shut. According to The Times of India, services resumed on both runways after an inspection. In the meantime, multiple flights to Goa and Ahmedabad were diverted and some take-offs delayed, as per BQPrime. With inputs from agencies