The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has said it will complete in six weeks the investigation into a Gulf Air plane skidding off the runway at Kochi airport.
“I have appointed deputy director Sanjay Brahmane as inquiry officer to investigate the incident. The preliminary probe will be completed in a week and the final report will be available in six weeks. Two officials from the civil aviation authority of Bahrain are also in Kochi, to participate in the inquiry. An assessment of the damage is being done and crew statements will be recorded on Wednesday,” Director General Bharat Bhushan said.
Early yesterday, a Gulf Air A320 plane from Bahrain carrying 137 passengers veered off the runway, after landing at Kochi airport. Seven passengers were hurt.
According to sources, the plane touched down about a thousand feet from the runway threshold and then veered off the runway. The weather bulletin issued earlier said there was no tail wind and the visibility was 2,000 metres above the requirement level.
The Kochi airport does not have a radar and the Thiruvananthapuram control room, which handled the flight, instructed Gulf Air to report to Kochi air traffic control 30 miles from touching down. “There was a moderate rain at the time of the incident. Gulf Air pilots did not initiate go around,” a source said. Pilots can initiate a go around in case runway is not visible to them from a particular height.