Another air incident at Kochi, AI plane's tail tips runway

Kochi, Aug 30 (PTI) In another air incident at south
Indian city of Koch airport, the tail of an Abu Dhabi-bound
Air India Express Boeing plane with 190 passengers on board
tipped the runway and returned here after being airborne for
90 minutes.
The two pilots of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft have been
derostered following the incident, an Air India spokesperson
said Tuesday.
The incident on Sunday night came to light on Tuesday
and occured hours before a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain
skidded off the runway at Kochi airport Monday in which 137
passengers and a six-member crew had a narrow escape. Seven
persons were injured in the Gulf Air incident.
As the flight of Air India's low budget carrier took off
to Abu Dhabi at 9.15 PM, its tail tipped the runway, the
spokesperson said.
The pilots informed Air Traffic Control(ATC) after they
came to know about the tail problem and sought permission to
return.
Permission was granted and the aircraft returned to
Kochi after being airborne for one and half hours, the
spokesperson said. The aircraft also jettisoned fuel before
landing AND was declared AOG (Aircraft on Ground).
Technicians repaired the "cartridge" of the aircraft and
the plane left for Mumbai today for its onward journey.