Saturday, July 30 2005 10:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: An Air-India Boeing 747-400 skidded and went off the runway into soft ground after landing early today (July 30, 2005, leading to the closure of Mumbai Airport.

The nose-wheel of the Boeing, which was carrying 335 passenger and crew from Bangalore to Mumbai, damaged the runway lights at the end of the runway before getting stuck in the slushy ground at around 7 am, Airport sources said in Mumbai.

All passengers have been disembarked at the site and brought to the Sahar terminal building of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport by buses.

The flight was due to operate onwards to Chicago via Frankfurt, an Air-India spokesperson said.

Following the incident, the secondary runway (14-32), which was thrown open to air traffic on Thursday afternoon after being closed down for two days due to the downpour once again became non-operational, leading to all incoming flights being diverted to other destinations.

Similarly, out-bound international and domestic flights have been held up resulting in the terminal buildings being jam packed with passengers.

Efforts are on to lift the nose-wheel with the help of airbags and pull back the Boeing, the sources said adding, it will be later towed to the nearby hangar.

The main runway (09-27), which was used yesterday only for take offs, continues to be unserviceable as navigational and landing aids are still not available, the sources said.

Some spare parts for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Very High Frequency Omni Range (VOR) were flown in from Chennai yesterday while a few more were due from Delhi today, the sources added.