KOCHI: Back to back incidents are casting a shadow on the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) at Nedumbassery. Monday’s incident in which a Gulf Air flight skidded off the runway could very well add to the worries of CIAL officials. The airport witnessed tense moments on Monday morning. In a mad rush, the passengers jumped through the emergency doors which left seven passengers injured. One of the passengers, 47-year-old Sait Mohemmed of Palakkad, was rushed to Little Flower Hospital ,Angamaly. He suffered rib fracture as he jumped out of the aircraft.“When the aircraft was landing, it suddenly skidded off the runway and nosedived into the muddy area. We thought something was about to happen and we jumped out of the emergency exit. There was a mad rush while passengers were trying to get out of the aircraft,” said one of the passengers. Immediately after the incident, the runway was closed for a substantially long time. At the airport, it was virtual chaos when news about the incident spread. The relatives who arrived at the airport to receive the passengers rushed to collect details about the passengers. Panic was writ large on their faces. A number of flights to Kochi, including domestic and international, were either cancelled or diverted to airports in Thiruvananthapuram or Bangalore. With international flights from Kochi delayed for a long time, the passengers crowded in front of the terminal manager’s office demanding an explanation. However, the officials too were helpless.Back to back incidents are proving costly to the image of the Cochin International Airport. It was on Sunday night that the passengers and the crew of an Air India Express flight (IX 419) to Abu Dhabi with 192 passengers on board had a providential escape when the flight landed back here immediately after take off. According to sources, the pilot alerted the Air Traffic Control about the technical snag, following which it was held in the air for sometime for fuel jettisoning. Later around 10.30 pm, it landed at the airport. In yet another incident on Friday, which revealed a major security lapse at CIAL, a 12-year-old boy entered the airport without the knowledge of the security officials. The boy, allegedly reached the aircraft bay on the air-side. The incident revealed the security lapses through gate no 1 manned by CISF personnel.
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