By Ashraf Padanna/Kochi


The emergency exits of a Gulf Air passenger plane are seen deployed after it skidded off the runway at the Kochi International airport yesterday
A Gulf Air flight carrying 137 passengers from Bahrain, mostly overseas Indian workers, had a narrow escape yesterday after it skidded to halt on landing at Kochi International Airport damaging its nose wheel.
Seven passengers sustained injuries, and one of them was admitted to hospital with fractures, as they jumped off the plane through the emergency exits of the Airbus 320 aircraft amid confusion. Some of them lost their passports and other documents in the marshland. The passengers included an infant.
Officials at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said bad weather could be the reason for the accident. The plane stopped before hitting a wall averting a major tragedy, reports said. Most of the passengers were from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
A Saudi Arabian Airline flight (SV 778, bound for Jeddah via Riyadh) and 11 domestic flights were cancelled following the accident while several flights were delayed or diverted to airports in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Bangalore.
The diverted flights include Etihad EY 280 (Abu Dhabi), KU 351 Kuwait Airways (Kuwait), AI 934 Air India (Sharjah), IX 434 (Air India Express (Dubai), 9W 561 Jet Airways (Sharjah), 9W 555 jet Airways (Doha) and QR 266 Qatar Airways (Doha). Air India Express’ IX 452 bound for Abu Dhabi was rescheduled.
The Etihad, Kuwait and two Jet Airways flights from Sharjah and Muscat were diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, while an Oman-Cochin flight was sent to Bangalore. Passengers were brought by road to Kochi from Thiruvananthapuram.
Last year, an Air India Express flight from Dubai skidded off the tabletop runway of the Mangalore airport, fell over a cliff and caught fire, killing all but eight of the 166 passengers and crew members.
Initially it appeared like a copycat landing. However, Kochi has a normal runway with a length of 3,400m, which is believed to have helped in the safe landing of the plane. There was a heavy rush of Indians coming on vacation ahead of the festival season of Eid al-Fitr and Onam.
The accident occurred at 3.55am and the runway was immediately closed. It became partially operational by the afternoon after a Disabled Aircraft Retrieval Kit arrived from Mumbai. CIAL runs India’s first corporate airport funded mainly by its diaspora.
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) E K Bharat Bhushan, who ordered an inquiry, said it was too early to say what could have led to the accident.
“An inquiry team from Chennai has reached the airport and they are looking into it,” he told a television channel. “They will inspect if there’s any breach of protocol while landing and if it could have been averted. The airport was immediately closed for traffic.”
CIAL managing director V J Kurien said the airport authorities were hopeful that the services at the airport could be normalised by midnight. There was no damage to the runway. 
The pilot was quoted as saying the aircraft veered off the runway because of heavy rain and poor visibility. The wings, nose wheel and engine have been damaged. The instrument landing system was perfect.
A special aircraft was on its way from Mumbai to remove the damaged plane. “Two cranes have already arrived and a bigger crane is coming from the Cochin Shipyard. We have also got wooden sleepers from the railways,” said Kurian.
The airport has been closed for operations for the time being. According to Kurian, the plane is now lying 31m away from the runway.
“At the moment, 2,050m of runway has been cleared. Right now, small aircraft can land. Only by midnight would the entire 3,100m runway be cleared and full operations resume.
“Our first priority was the safe evacuation of the passengers, and providing treatment to those injured. Within about 50 minutes we were able to send out all the uninjured passengers, with their luggage, and after completing the immigration procedures. We will take steps to complete the immigration procedures for the injured passenger at the hospital,’’ he said.