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| Friday, 6 February 2004 |
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by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi, Ariyaratne Ganegoda and Airport Corr. Kumarasiri Prasad The Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) remained closed for nearly 10 hours until early yesterday morning after a cargo plane belly-landed on the runway. Normal operations at BIA resumed around 8.00 am after the aircraft was towed away and runway lights damaged by the impact were repaired. The IL-18 aircraft, registered under EX-005 in the Kyrgyz Republic and operated by Phoenix Aviation, a Sharjah based carrier, was on a flight to Colombo from Dubai. It carried out an emergency belly landing at BIA on Wednesday night after the nose wheels failed to open, damaging 12 runway lights and three taxiway lights. The seven crew members were unhurt. Following the incident, three incoming flights had to be diverted to Chennai as the debris had spread all over the runway. "We took swift measures to clear the area and all flights are now operating according to schedule," Airport Aviation Authority Director Gamini Abeyratne said yesterday noon. Some flights were diverted to Dubai as well. Airport sources said UL 548 from Zurich was the first flight to arrive at the airport after it was restored. It had arrived at 8.00 am. Another flight UL 133 had left for Trichy around 9.57 am. Airport sources said the three diverted flights had also arrived at the airport later yesterday. According to a release issued by the Phoenix Aviation, the crew have told the investigating team that they felt the nose gear had sustained damage and was not usable for landing. Therefore the crew had decided to carry out the landing without the extended nose gear, after declaring an emergency. The aircraft has first touched on the grass patch on the right side of the runway - 04 (lagoon-end) between taxiway E and D and moved forward with the belly touching ground. During this run, two engines on the left wing of the aircraft and the belly of the aircraft have been seriously damaged. There is no major surface damage to the runway. Airport and Aviation Services Ltd (Airport Operator) with the support of SriLankan Airlines (ground handling agent) moved the disabled aircraft to a parking area and cleared the runway. The aircraft was used by ExpoAir for operation of international cargo flights on charter basis. It was scheduled later on the day to carry a load of cargo to Karachi. Phoenix Aviation has been operating into and out of Colombo frequently. The cause for the non-usability of the nose wheel is not yet known. A team appointed by the Director-General of Civil Aviation in accordance with the Air Navigation Regulations is conducting investigations. Several of SriLankan Airlines' international scheduled flights arriving in Katunayake were compelled to divert to India and Dubai due to the closure of Katunayake airport's single runway, on Wednesday evening. The Civil Aviation Authority ordered the closure of the runway to arriving and departing aircraft soon after a privately-owned Illushin IL-18 cargo aircraft belly-landed on the runway at 2220 hrs on 4th February, sustaining damage to 12 runway lights and three taxiway lights making the runway unsuitable for landing or departing aircraft. The runway was closed until the damaged cargo aircraft was removed, the runway lights re-installed, and the safety clearance was given by the authorities. Large numbers of passengers arriving in Katunayake on SriLankan Airlines scheduled international flights on Thursday morning from Frankfurt, Dubai, Karachi, Kuwait, Trichy, Riyadh and departing Katunayake to London, Bombay, Madras, Trichy, Cochin, Male, Dubai, and Kuwait were delayed due to this accident. Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. has cleared the runway and Civil Aviation has given the 'green light' to resume normal aircraft operations", states a SriLankan Airlines press release. |
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