Surat: In another such incident, with an interval of 15 days, a tire of Ventura Airconnect’s nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan Ex, flight VT-DEV, deflated during its landing at Surat airport on Monday. Fortunately, there were no injuries to any passengers onboard VT-DEV, also known as ‘Dev Viman’. Due to these consecutive incidents, the flight has been grounded until it receives clearance from the DGCA.

Following the passengers disembarking, the flight was directed to the parking bay, causing a disruption in airport operations for approximately 30 minutes. Surat’s airport director in charge, Suresh Chandra Bhalse, mentioned that the tire deflated during the landing, and there was no damage to the runway.

Neither the airline nor the authorities were able to determine the exact cause of the repeated tire deflation. A spokesperson for Ventura Airlines clarified that this was not a case of a burning tire or a tire explosion but rather a slow loss of air resulting in a flat tire. They emphasized their commitment to passenger safety and mentioned their efforts to investigate the issue, including reaching out to the previous owner, technical experts, and the manufacturer for support.

The airline suspects that there may be differences in tire sizes between the old and new versions of the aircraft. They have been operating Grand Caravan aircraft since 2011 and have never encountered such a situation in the past 13 years. A thorough analysis of the issue has been initiated, according to the spokesperson.

Following the tire deflation incident, another Ventura flight, VT-GSL, returned to Bhavnagar. DeshGujarat