Airliners-India.com

karatecatman · Guest

IA officials in New Delhi are still awaiting a final report from Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) about an incident where nails were found imbedded in its aircraft tyre at the Bahrain International Airport, says a UNI report. The aircraft was an Airbus A320.

Four nails were found embedded in a tyre of the A320 minutes before it was to take off from Bahrain on January 2.

Bahrain-based engineers from the airline discovered the five-inch-long nails during a final check before departure, averting what an airline official described as a "potential disaster".

"The issue is of the highest concern and needs a full investigation," said Dubai-based regional director Pankaj Srivastava, says UNI.

Mr Srivastava, who is in Bahrain to preside over a ceremony to felicitate the airline's top passenger and cargo agents, says though debris on the tarmac is common all over the world, what is of importance is that it needs to be cleared.

"We have received a preliminary report which says the nails were perhaps dropped by another aircraft, but we are awaiting a final word" he has been quoted as saying.

"Safety of the passengers and the aircraft are of the highest importance and we would want to ensure that these incidents do not occur in Bahrain or elsewhere in the world."

The nails were detected minutes before Flight IC997 was to take off from Bahrain for Doha, en route to Calicut and Cochin.

The aircraft had been thoroughly inspected by the engineers after it arrived from Cochin, via Calicut and Doha, at 8.20pm and the nails were discovered after the plane was towed to the boarding gate, ready for the return flight.

The aircraft had earlier received an all-clear in Doha, barely an hour before landing in Bahrain.

Civil Aviation officials had said that the nails could have been picked up anywhere and not necessarily in Bahrain.

They claimed the nails were small and harmless, and had perhaps fallen off someone's suitcase while loading and unloading.

Ninety-three passengers were booked on the flight and 29 boarded in Bahrain.

The rest were due to board in Doha. The aircraft has a capacity of 145 passengers.