An Air India 901 Kochi-Kozhikode-Riyadh flight with 197 passengers and 12 crew made an emergency landing here soon after takeoff from Kozhikode early on Saturday as smoke was detected in the cabin, airport sources said.
The smoke was noticed about 30 minutes after the flight left for Riyadh from Kozhikode airport at 6.35 am, they said, adding the pilot immediately diverted the aircraft to Kochi and landed safely in full emergency at 8.20 am.
All passengers have been shifted to a nearby hotel, they said. Air India sources said the flight has been grounded and that a relief flight would be arranged by Saturday evening to take the passengers to Riyadh.