Saudi-bound Air India Express flight makes emergency landing at TVM

A Saudi Arabia-bound Air India Express flight, that took off from Kozhikode international airport on Friday morning, made an emergency landing here after it developed a technical snag.

After it developed a snag in its hydraulic systems, the flight en route to Dammam, was given permission to land at the international airport here around 12.15 pm.

All the 182 passengers and crew are safe.

The Thiruvananthapuram international airport had called in all the emergency services and after the captain of the aircraft was asked to dump the fuel, it was done and then landed safely.

Airport Authority of India officials termed it an "emergency landing" and not a crash landing.

Initially, the authorities had decided that the aircraft would land at the Cochin international airport, but later changed it to Thiruvananthapuram.

The airline authorities will now make arrangements for the onward travel of the passengers.

-B