Kochi, Monday, August 29, 2011: The Director General of Civil Aviation- E K Bharat Bhushan has ordered an inquiry into an incident in which a Gulf Air Flight from Bahrain with 137 passengers on board, skidded off the runway at Kochi International airport early on Monday.The Gulf Air plane (GF 270) with six crew deviated from the runway at 3:55am this 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.
At least seven passengers were injured in the incident. Flights to Kochi are being diverted to Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore airports.
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 3pm. 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.
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