Sharjah-bound Air India Express flight slides off Calicut runway

A Sharjah-bound Air India Express flight slid off the runway at Calicut’s Karipur International Airport on Monday.

The incident took place just before the flight took off from the airport at 11 am. All 178 passengers and crew on board are reportedly safe.

The aircraft skidded off the runway, which is under renovation, before the pilot successfully stopped the plane.

However, many passengers onboard the flight learnt of the actual reason of the delay only after they landed in Sharjah.

“We were informed that there was a technical issue,” said Ashraf Valiyaprampathu, a supermarket staff in Sharjah.

Mohammed Sadiq, another passenger, who also claimed he did not know what exactly had happened, said: “We realized the seriousness only after landing in Sharjah. In fact, the crew had announced it was ready for take-off and the plane was going fast. We were surprised why the flight stopped all of a sudden with a bang.”

“After half an hour the pilot announced that there was a delay due to ongoing work on the runway and that he regretted the delay,” he added.

However, the flight took off after some time, without much delay, said the passengers.

Some passengers also claimed there was no air-conditioning for some time.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.