Gulf Air plane veers off runway into muddy area

Kochi, Aug 29 (PTI) At least seven passengers were
injured as a Gulf Air plane from Bahrain with 137 passengers
veered off the runway as it was landing at the international
airport in this south Indian city and went into a muddy area,
damaging its nose wheel here early Monday.
One person, who suffered fractures, has been hospitalised
while six other passengers with minor injuries were discharged
after first aid, airport sources said.
As the nose wheel has been damaged, recovery was taking
time due to which the runway has been closed for 10 hours,
Airport Director A C K Nair told PTI.
"We are trying our best to partially open the runway as
early as possible," he said.
The Gulf Air plane (GF 270) with six crew deviated from
the runway at 3.55 am (IST) Monday morning. Some passengers
panicked and jumped from the aircraft through the emergency
door even before the ladder was brought to the plane, airport
sources said.
Saithmohed (47) from Palakkad, who suffered some
fractures, has been hospitalised.
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) E K Bharat
Bhushan has ordered an enquiry into the incident.
Flights to Kochi are being diverted to Thiruvananthapuram
and Bangalore airports, Nair said.
While an Etihad flight from Kuwait, two Jet airways
flights from Sharjah and Muscat have been diverted to
Thiruvananthapuram, an Oman-Kochi flight has been sent to
Bangalore. Passengers are being brought by road to Kochi from
Thiruvananthapuram.
The departure schedule of 3 flights -- belonging to
Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar flights, which were at the
airport at the time of mishap, has been affected.
Bhushan said the runway has been blocked till 3 PM (IST).
A Disabled Aircraft Retrieval Kit is being sent from
Mumbai, he said.
Bhushan said the reason behind the mishap was not yet
known.
"There was visibility till 2,000 metres. Only after a
preliminary enquiry, the cause of the mishap will be known,"
he said.
Heavy rains and strong winds have been lashing Kochi
airport since last night.
Meanwhile, Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL)
Managing Director, V J Kurien, told reporters that they were
hopeful that by midnight Monday night the services at the
airport would be normalised.
"Our expectation is that within one to one and half
hours, smaller aircraft would be able to land at the airport,"
he said.
Kurien said as soon as the airport received information
about the landing, the fire engines were ready. "Our first
priority was to make sure that injured passengers should be
shifted. Perhaps, there was some confusion," Kurien said.
"The next priority is to normalise operations as soon as
possible, he added.
"We are moving steel plates and wooden planks to the spot
to lift the aircraft which is stuck in the mud. We are trying
to be as prepared as possible," he said.
There was no damage to the runway, Kurien said, adding
there was heavy rain when the plane was landing which could be
the reason for the flight going off the runway.
At least 12 International flights have been diverted but
no flights have been cancelled, he said. The departure of four
flights to various destinations, however, has been delayed, he
said. The delayed flights belonged to Sri Lankan Airways,
Kuwait Airways, Emirates and Air India Express.
In the domestic sector, services of three Air India
aircrafts has been delayed, he said.
Meanwhile, Chennai airport sources said, four flights
were cancelled in Chennai owing to the mishap at the Kochi
airport. The cancelled flights belonged to Jet Airways, Air
India, Kingfisher and Spice Jet, they said.