Mumbai-Hisar Medical Flight Carrying Coffin Landed On Wrong Runway In July, Confusing Markings Suspected In AAIB Preliminary Report

A non-scheduled air medical transport flight carrying a coffin from Mumbai to Hisar Airport experienced a harrowing incident on July 14. The Beechcraft King Air C-90A twin-engine turboprop operated by Flaps Aviation, carrying four people, landed on an abandoned runway strip due to what appears to be confusing markings. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released a preliminary report, with Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) on board.

The flight, consisting of two flight crew, two passengers, and a casket, followed the standard procedure until the final non-precision approach. However, during visual alignment, the flight crew mistakenly lined up on an abandoned paved runway structure in line with the operational approach path. The aircraft touched down 602 meters past the beginning of the abandoned pavement, colliding with approach lights, the far-field monitoring antenna, and causing significant damage to the engines, propellers, fuselage, wings, and landing gear.

The AAIB's preliminary report attributes the misidentification primarily to misleading visual cues on the approach path, despite the old runway designator, threshold lines, chevrons, and centerline being painted over. Additionally, the initial closed runway X marking was situated 315 meters from the start of the abandoned pavement, leaving an unmarked stretch of asphalt during final descent.

The AAIB has called for immediate corrective measures, including the complete removal of all legible markings on the abandoned pavement, placing closed runway markings at the end of the pavement, and publishing a formal caution notice on the official approach charts to warn pilots of the inline abandoned pavement.