Thomson airplane faces problems, conducts emergency landing

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport has declared a state of emergency. This has been confirmed by Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

Officials at the airport say that emergency was declared when an aircraft which took off from the airport this morning faced some problems and had to land. Sun has been informed that the aircraft, a Thomson Airways 767, has landed a few minutes ago. The aircraft is waiting at one end of the runway. No details have been received regarding its problems.

11:57 - Minister (via SMS)

Transport Minister Ahmed Shamheed said that emergency was declared at the airport due to a communication failure. He did not give further details.

12:04 - The aircraft dumped fuel before the emergency landing. It is a Thomson Airways aircraft flying from Male' to Manchester.

12:17 -

Thomson 189 safely landed. Police was on alert when emergency landing was declared.

— Abdulla Riyaz (@riyazabdulla) March 28, 2012

13:11 - Thomson 189, en route from Male' to Manchester, has made an emergency landing at Male' Ibrahim Nasir International Airport at around noon today.

A senior official of Transport Ministry said that about 230 passengers were on board the flight, and no person was injured.

No damage was caused to the airplane either.

MNDF confirmed that emergency was declared at the airport when the plane landed. The airport status is now back to normal.

The airplane faced some technical difficulties which prompted the emergency landing; however no problems were encountered during landing.

Thomson's agent in Maldives said that they do not want to provide any information regarding this incident to the media.

Media Official of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport could not be reached as there is no answer on his phone.

Last January, a Maldivian Donier flight en route from Male' to Hanimaadhoo made an emergency landing due to a problem with the gear. No person was injured in this incident.