A 10-member team of officials from Gulf Air and Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs left Manama to join the initial investigations of flight GF 270 which skidded off from the tarmac on Monday at the Kochi airport leaving seven injured, one seriously.
Earlier, Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air confirmed that flight GF270 from Bahrain to Kochi has been involved in an accident while landing at Kochi International Airport at 01:45 hours on Monday.
The airline’s official spokesman Karunakaran Srinivasan on his way to Kochi from Dammam International Airport told the 24X7 News Bahrain that the 10-member team would participate in the initial investigations at Kochi.
“The team comprised of Civil Aviation Affairs Bahrain and Gulf Air and at this stage we don’t know about the Airbus officials to join the investigation,” he said, adding Airbus might join investigations at later stage.
“The A-320 aircraft was carrying 136 passengers which include one infant and six crew members, skidded off the runway on landing. All passengers evacuated and transferred to the airport terminal,” the airline in an initial report said.
“Gulf Air can confirm that one passenger, an Indian national, was injured. He was given immediate medical aid and was taken to the hospital for further treatment. His condition is not critical.
“Gulf Air is coordinating with relevant authorities in investigating the cause of the incident. At this point, we cannot confirm the extent of the damage to the aircraft. Further investigations are ongoing,” the airline in an official statement said.
The A320 involved in the accident was one of the newest planes of Gulf Air fleet. “It was one of the newest planes of the fleet and we can can’t anything about the exact cause of the accident,” the spokesman added, however, he believed the rainy weather might be the reason behind the accident.
“Apparently, the weather is likely to be the reason behind the accident as it was raining at Kochi airport on arrival of the GF 270 in the early hours on Monday,” he added.