Grounded US plane takes off from Mumbai (Lead)
October 19th, 2009 - 7:08 pm ICT by IANSMumbai, Oct 19 (IANS) A chartered US military aircraft, which was detained in Mumbai Sunday due to a discrepancy in its call sign, took off Monday for Bangkok after a 33-hour delay, airport officials said.
The aircraft took off shortly after 5 p.m. from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, where it had been parked since early Sunday.
The aircraft was ordered to land by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and was cleared by Indian security agencies Sunday afternoon.
The customs and immigration departments again checked the aircraft before it was finally given the green signal to depart, officials said.
The plane, carrying 205 marines on a holiday trip to Bangkok, could not take off Sunday on account of a dispute over payment of certain charges by the aircraft to the Air Traffic Control and other procedural issues.
The US Embassy in New Delhi and the US consulate in Mumbai had decided to put up the marines and the crew members in a nearby hotel for an overnight halt.
Accordingly, after processing their visa and other documents, the passengers and crew checked into Hotel Hyatt Regency adjacent to the airport.
- US chartered military plane to depart Monday afternoon - Oct 19, 2009
- Call sign mix up grounded US military aircraft: Official - Oct 19, 2009
- Cleared by India, but US military plane may leave only Monday - Oct 18, 2009
- US chartered military plane ordered to land in Mumbai - Oct 18, 2009
- Detained US chartered military plane allowed to depart (Lead) - Oct 18, 2009
- Detained US military plane takes off from Mumbai - Oct 19, 2009
- India clears grounded chartered US marine plane - Oct 18, 2009
- US working with MEA, DGCA to clear grounded chartered plane in Mumbai - Oct 18, 2009
- Park Hyatt hotel opens in Hyderabad - Apr 27, 2012
- Detained US plane to leave Mumbai today - Oct 19, 2009
- US charted plane grounded at Mumbai airport for airspace violation - Oct 18, 2009
- Helicopter crash in south-central Indonesia kills 2 - Sep 26, 2011
- Turkish Airways plane goes off runway in Mumbai during heavy rainfall - Sep 03, 2011
- `Good to see Mumbai aircraft detention crisis resolved soon: US Air Force - Oct 19, 2009
- Mumbai airport's main runway not yet functional - Sep 04, 2011
Tags: air traffic control, airport officials, bangkok, chhatrapati shivaji international airport, crew members, customs and immigration, discrepancy, holiday trip, hotel hyatt regency, iaf, indian air force, indian security, marines, military aircraft, nearby hotel, procedural issues, security agencies, sunday afternoon, us embassy in new delhi, visa