Tragedy averted as Air India flight skids off runway

Kozhikode: A Sharjah-bound Air India aircraft was pulled back to its take off position on the runway at Karipur International airport here Monday after it 'skipped' the pathway's end point by a few meters, airport sources said.

This resulted in a 30-minute delay in the departure of the AI Express-351 flight, which left at 11:36 AM, they said.

The sources, however, declined to give the number of passengers and crew on board.

They also denied reports of the aircraft "skidding off" the runway and said it 'skipped' the end point by a few metres while making a turn.

The plane was pushed back to its position within a few minutes and took off safely, they said.