Air India Express Flight Makes Emergency Landing In Kochi After Tyre Gets Damaged, All Passengers Safe

Kochi: A major tragedy was averted as an Air India Express flight made an emergency landing at the Cochin International Airport on Thursday. The aircraft with 160 passengers on board was flying from Saudi Arabia's Jeddah to Kozhikode.

The pilot had resorted to a precautionary landing due to suspected damage to the aircraft’s tyre, likely caused by a foreign object on the runway at the Jeddah airport, an Air India Express spokesperson said.

No casualty has been reported in the incident and all the passengers have been safely evacuated. The authorities are conducting a thorough inspection into the incident.

According to Air India Express officials, the airline is exploring options to either operate an alternative flight to Kozhikode or make ground transport arrangements for its passengers.

The incident comes a month after another Air India Express flight from Mumbai to Varanasi made an emergency landing at Varanasi airport following a bomb scare in November. Officials had said that Air India Express flight IX 1023 was carrying 182 passengers when it was diverted to Varanasi. All passengers were safely evacuated, and a thorough inspection of the aircraft was carried out.

An Air India Express spokesperson had said that a government-appointed Bomb Threat Assessment Committee was immediately alerted as protocol. 

In November as well, a bomb threat email received on IndiGo's grievance portal triggered security checks at Delhi Airport's Terminal 3, but later it turned out to be a hoax. The email, which also mentioned several other airports, including Delhi, Chennai, and Goa, prompted an immediate response from security agencies, and precautionary checks were conducted at all the locations.

According to Delhi Police, the fire brigade received a call about a bomb at Delhi Airport Terminal 3. However, after investigating the scene, it was determined to be a hoax. After the car blast incident in Delhi, which had claimed several lives, security was ramped up across the national capital.

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