Stranded Oman Air passengers depart: probe on into mishap

Kochi, Jun 27 (UNI) The stranded passengers of yesterday's Oman Air flight to Muscat, which was cancelled following a slight damage to the nose wheel cover of the plane at the Nedumbassery Airport here, left by a scheduled Oman Air flight this morning.

Meanwhile, an internal inquiry is on by the Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) into yesterday's accident in which a baggage conveyor carriage hit and slightly damaged the nose wheel cover of the Boeing 737-700 aircraft, airport officials said.

The inquiry is being conducted by the safety committee of the CIAL. ''All the people present in the operational area yesterday will be questioned to ascertain the exact cause of the accident so that corrective measures can be taken,'' the officials added.

The ground handling operations at the Nedumbassery Airport are done by Air India.

The damaged Oman Air plane left here at 2120 hrs. last night without any passengers. A scheduled Oman Air flight with 115 passengers, including nearly 60 passengers from yesterday, who were accommodated in hotels here, left at 0820 hrs. this morning.

According to reports, passengers were about to board the flight yesterday when the carriage, used for baggage loading and unloading, rolled off from its designated parking area and hit the plane.

Airport officials however said that only a ''slight mechanical damage'' was caused to the aircraft, which took off after minor repairs last night.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been informed of the incident.

UNI ARC1330