A full emergency was declared at the Kochi airport on Sunday evening after an inbound flight from Sharjah was suspected to have suffered a hydraulic failure. Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said in a statement that the aircraft landed safely at 8.26pm after a full emergency was declared at 8.04pm.
“Suspected hydraulic failure at IX 412 from Sharjah to Kochi. Due to this, a full emergency was declared at 08.04 pm in the Kochi airport. The aircraft landed safely at 08.26 pm,” informed CIAL in a statement, adding that the emergency was withdrawn at 8.36pm.
There were no diversion or runway blockages and airport operations were declared normal post the withdrawal of the emergency.
An Air India Express spokesperson clarified the Sharjah-Kochi flight did not make an emergency landing. The pilot had noticed a fluctuation in the Hydraulic Pressure System and informed the ATC as a precautionary measure, he said.
The incident occurred hours after a suspected bird hit forced a Kolkata-bound Air Asia flight with 180 passengers and eight crew members on board to abort its take-off at the Lucknow airport.
Rupesh Kumar, a spokesperson for the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow said the pilot of Air Asia flight i5-319 suspected the bird hit during the take-off roll at around 11 am.
“The pilot of an AirAsia flight aborted take-off after a suspected bird hit on the runway at around 11 am. This occurred before the flight could lift off,” Kumar said. “The aircraft returned to the bay and all the passengers were deboarded safely.”
“An Airbus aircraft of Air Aisa with around 170 passengers was deployed for the Kolkata operation, all of whom are safe,” Air Asia said in a statement.
“Flight i5-319, scheduled to operate from Lucknow to Kolkata, encountered a bird strike during the take-off roll. As a result, the aircraft returned to the bay and was grounded for detailed inspection. Impacted guests were attended to and we are making all efforts to mitigate the impact on the integrity of other scheduled operations,” the carrier added.
The presence of birds around the runway has remained a big challenge for the Lucknow airport. In the past, incidents of animals such as jackals and hyenas intruding the runway have come to fore.
(With inputs from agencies)
