KOCHI: An Air Arabia flight from Sharjah to Kochi with 222 passengers and seven crew had an emergency landing at the Cochin International Airport on Friday evening following hydraulic failure.
A full emergency was declared at the Kochi airport at 6:41 pm after the flight, which was scheduled to land at 7:13 pm, reported hydraulic failure.
"Full emergency was declared at Kochi airport at 18:41 hours," said the airport spokesman.
The Air Arabia G9-426 landed at runway 09 at 7:29 pm. "All passengers are safe, and no issues/incidents were reported," he said.
Though the emergency declared at the airport was to be withdrawn after an endurance period of one hour and 50 minutes, the runways were cleared faster for resumption of operations due to fast and timely interventions.
While the towing commenced with 'towbarless' (scooping up the nose wheel and lifting it from the ground) push back at 8:11 pm, the full emergency was withdrawn at 8:22 pm.
"A concerted effort and timely coordination have helped Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) to see through the airport emergency situation. Though such a situation occurred after a long period, it was proved that the safety systems worked effectively. We could resume operations in 45 minutes," said S Suhas, managing director, CIAL.
The airport authorities said there were only two diversions from Kochi airport following the emergency landing.
While flight G8 336 was diverted to Kannur at 6:40 pm, another flight 3L 125 was diverted to Coimbatore airport at 7:50 pm.
"GO FIRST G8 336 was diverted to Kannur at 1940 hrs and Air Arabia 3L125 was diverted to Coimbatore at 1950 hrs," airport authorities said.
CIAL said that all, including 222 passengers and seven crew members, were safe.
However, there was no immediate response from the airline.
(With PTI Inputs)