Brief emergency declared at Kochi airport over suspected snag in flight from Sharjah

Kochi, Jan 30: A full emergency was declared briefly at the Cochin International Airport here Sunday evening as an Air India Express flight from Sharjah experienced suspected hydraulic failure during landing, a CIAL spokesperson said.

News agency ANI reported that flight IX 412 from Sharjah to Kochi suffered a hydraulic failure. All 183 passengers and six crew members onboard the flight were safe.

''A full emergency was declared at the international airport at 8.04 PM, the CIAL said, but added no runway was blocked or flights were diverted,'' an Air India Express spokesperson said.

The emergency was withdrawn at 8.36 PM and air operations were declared normal, the CIAL added.

An Air India Express spokesperson told PTI News Agency later in a statement that it was a normal landing at the scheduled arrival time (8.34PM) and no urgency or emergency call was made by the pilot to the Air Traffic Control (ATC).

The spokesperson also clarified the Sharjah-Kochi route, 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 Air India Express spokesperson also said that following a normal landing in Kochi, the flight system was also checked and no anomalies were detected.

Earlier on Sunday, an Air Asia flight makes an emergency landing at Lucknow airport soon after take-off for Kolkata. The flight returned to the Lucknow airport after the aircraft suffered a bird hit.

An Airbus aircraft of Air Aisa with around 170 passengers was deployed for the Kolkata operation, all of whom are safe.

"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 said.