 "Narrow escape: Air India Express plane veers off taxiway in Abu Dhabi due to heavy rains")
Over a 100 people onboard an Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi had a narrow escape after the Boeing aircraft veered off the taxiway on arrival at Kochi airport due to heavy rains early Tuesday morning.
The 102 passengers and six crew members exited from the doors by a normal step ladder and there were no injuries to anyone, an Air India Express spokesperson said.
"During heavy rains last night at about 2:40 am, while entering the bay from the taxiway at Kochi, our aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 skidded off the taxiway," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The wheels of the Abu Dhabi-Kochi Air India Express IX 452 got stuck in a storm water drain on the side of the taxiway opposite the international airport terminal, he added.
The nose-wheel of the aircraft collapsed when it went off the taxiway, an airline said.
Air India Express is the international budget arm of the government-owned Air India.
In July also, an Air India Express passenger aircraft had gone off the runway at Mangalore airport on landing from Dubai, though all passengers and crew members had escaped unhurt.
In May 2010, 152 people were killed when the pilot of the Air India Express flight from Dubai overshot the runway while landing at Mangalore airport and the plane caught fire after it fell over a cliff.
