Date:04/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040450150700.htm

Back Plane makes emergency landing

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, April 3

A Delhi-bound Kingfisher aircraft (IT 801) had to make an emergency landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Thursday morning after the crew detected smoke in the cargo area.

The Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun an investigation into the incident.

Preliminary investigations found a powder pack, suspected by the airport developer, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), as citrus concentrate, as being responsible for the smoke.

The airline has, however, blamed GMR for the lapse. “One of the cargo consignments that was cleared by GMR’s security screening staff contained a powder, which would not otherwise have been accepted and cleared for carriage by us,” a Kingfisher press release said.

The aircraft took off at 6.35 a.m. with 90 passengers. Soon after the take-off, the pilot was alerted by a smoke warning alert on the systems. He informed the ground control and decided to return to the airport.

After a safe landing, the airline staff screened all the cargo consignments and zeroed in on the unidentified part of the consignment.

The problematic consignment was offloaded and after a through check of the remainder of the cargo, the aircraft was cleared for departure.

A GMR spokesman, however, said that the whole consignment was cleared by both the airport and Kingfisher staff. “One of the consignments purportedly carrying packaged juices must have contained citrus concentrate. This could have caused the problem,” he said.