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Normal operations at Cochin International Airport Ltd, which was partially suspended on Monday on account of a plane accident, was fully restored by Tuesday. By 8 a.m., the entire 3,400 metre runway was made available for operations.
The airport officials said that the Gulf Airplane, which had skidded off the runway in the early hours of Monday, was towed back to the taxi bay by 6 a.m. with the help of cranes.
Aircraft retrieval
It took almost 10 hours to tow away the aircraft to the taxi bay and clear the runway after bringing an aircraft retrieval kit from Mumbai. The runway remained fully closed between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. following the towing of the plane and this has resulted in the diversion of four aircrafts.
The B737 Air India aircraft carrying the equipments and a 10-member expert team from the airline had reached the airport here by 7.30 p.m. on Monday to tow the aircraft from the muddy area.
The entire operations was coordinated and closely monitored by the airline's headquarters at Mumbai.
CIAL had also deployed equipments including a big crane with a capacity of 100 tonnes to help lifting the aircraft idled near the runway. Inclement weather and low visibility conditions also obstructed the operations.
Damages assessed
The engineering experts from Bahrain have arrived at CIAL to inspect the ill-fated aircraft and the enquiry by the DGCA is also progressing.
It is reported that the Gulf aircraft had suffered damages on its nose wheel and engine and it needs a thorough maintenance check.
Backlog cleared
Meanwhile, the Air India officials said here that the company had operated additional flights to Kochi-Dubai and Kochi- Sharjah and Kochi-Dammam and a special jumbo flight to clear the entire backlog of Monday and Sunday.
There were close to 1,000 stranded passengers and the flights were operated between 9.45 a.m. till 5 p.m. on Tuesday to various Gulf destinations.
With this, the complete backlog of the airline was over and the company had started normal operations from Kochi, the officials said.
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