A mishap was averted when a chartered plane landed at old runway instead of newly set-up airstrip, which is in operation, at Maharaja Agrasen International Airport in Hisar on Tuesday morning. A reflective marker came off due to the wrong landing and collided with the engine.

The charted plane was carrying the mortal remains of Nand Kishore Goenka, father of former Rajya Sabha MP and Zee group owner Subhash Chandra. Goenka, 96, had died in Mumbai on Monday.

Sources said the old runway was not in use and that the pilot landed the plane at this strip instead of the newly set-up runway, which was being used for landing for the past few days. During the landing, a reflective marker which is called a ‘cat’s eye’, fitted at the strip, got off and collided with the engine of the chartered plane. However, there are no reports of any serious damage in the incident.

The sources said officials at the airport had taken serious note of the incident. “We are assessing the situation in the wake of the incident. It seems to have occurred due to the pilot’s fault,” said an official who was attending the meeting to discuss in the wake of the incident.