IndiGo pilots sacked for mistaking road for runway

It’s yet another embarrassing incident that calls aviation safety in India to question. Two pilots of IndiGo were dismissed from duty this weekend for trying to land on a road, thinking it was the runway. In the incident Feb 27, the aircraft, an Airbus A320, was barely a few hundred feet from landing on a road which runs parallel to Jaipur airport in the western state of Rajasthan. The manoeuvre set off a “too-low terrain warning” that prompted the pilots to get into action, IndiGo said Sunday. The captain-in-command “immediately took a precautionary measure and carried a go-around” with the aircraft subsequently landing safely on the runway, the airline said. The near-miss is one of the several dangerous or embarrassing mishaps reported in recent months, putting India’s safety score under the spotlight. <br/>