Perturbed by the partial closure of Mumbai airport for about four days after a SpiceJet aircraft overshot the runway into the mud, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked six airport operators to buy additional equipment to retrieve stuck aircraft.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Arun Kumar, director general of DGCA and attended by airport operators and other stakeholders. Currently, the country has only one Disabled Aircraft Recovery Kit (DARK), which is owned by national carrier Air India and is also used at airports in neighbouring countries.

The aviation regulator has asked the airport operators of Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai to buy one each and the Airports Authority of India to buy three of them and station them at key airports.