CHENNAI AIRPORT CHAOS: One of the Air Arabia flight passengers opened an emergency exit and jumped onto the runway a few minutes after landing at the Chennai International Airport early Sunday, which caused a momentary disruption in its operations, delays in flights, and a diversion, airport officials who were aware of the incident said.
Chennai Airport Chaos: Passenger Opens Emergency Exit, Jumps Onto Runway After Air Arabia Flight Landing
Flight G9 471 at Sharjah, conducted by an Airbus A320, landed around 3.23 am on Sunday. On 07/25, at 3.25 am, the main runway (07/25) at the airport was closed by the airport authorities as a precautionary measure against a security threat.
At about 3:25 am, an official said that the passenger, who was later identified as 29-year-old Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Najmudeen, jumped off the emergency exit of the plane on Taxiway V. The first reports are that the passenger might have been ill in the airplane. An official said that he complained of having a vomiting sensation and is said to have vomited twice on board, which may have contributed to his actions.
Air Arabia Flight Incident: What did the officials say?
Another official of the airport said that the passenger, a native of Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai, insisted that he was unstable and thereby jumped out of the plane, but security agencies are looking into the complaint.
He added that the airline crew alerted security officials and took the customer to the local police, who took him into custody. Operations resumed on the runway around 4.35 am, another official said. It was only around 4.25 am that the aircraft was towed off and parked in a bay.
Chennai airport stands out as a major aviation hub in Southern India, with two runways that cross each other, 07/25 being the main one, and 12/30 the secondary. Every year, more than 20 million people pass through these gates, and a lot of the traffic connects to the Gulf region.
How did the Air Arabia Flight Incident affect the Chennai airport routine?
After the recent incident, a few flights had to divert, but airport officials said it barely shook up operations. When the main runway wasn’t available, they just shifted some flights over to the secondary one, 12/30.
One British Airways flight BA0035 from London ended up in Bengaluru because of the closure. At least five flights took a delay, mostly headed to Doha, Ahmedabad, and Dubai, with some waiting up to 40 minutes.
Flights like 6E1061 to Bangkok and EY0341 to Abu Dhabi took off from Runway 12 during the closure. An Abu Dhabi arrival used the same runway. The return flight to Sharjah, G9 472, got hit hardest, leaving more than three hours late. It finally took off at 7:41 a.m. with 109 passengers on board.
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