Riyadh-bound flight lands in Kochi after smoke alarm

An Air India flight bound for Riyadh and Muscat landed in Kochi on Saturday morning as it was diverted after a smoke alarm went off, officials said. All passengers were safe.

An Air India flight bound for Riyadh and Muscat landed in Kochi on Saturday morning as it was diverted after a smoke alarm went off, officials said. All passengers were safe.

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The plane first took off from Kochi to Kozhikode, from where it was headed to Riyadh and Muscat, ACK Nair, director of the Cochin International Airport Ltd., said.

"The A-310 aircraft with 197 passengers on board took off from Kozhikode as usual but en route some smoke alarm went off and the crew asked for a diverted landing. We made all the arrangements and then they wanted an emergency landing...But the aircraft landed normally," Nair said.

All the passengers have now been moved to hotels.

"There seems to be some technical problem and engineers are attending to it. The cause of the smoke alarm is not yet known," Nair added.