BRUNEI: An AirAsia flight with 102 passengers and seven crew members skidded off the runway as it was landing at Bandar Seri Begawan International Airport here yesterday.
One of the passengers sustained minor injury from the 4pm incident.
The other passengers and crew from flight AK278 from Kuala Lumpur were safe after they were evacuated from the plane after it came to a stop.
It is learnt the crew opened up four emergency exits on the Airbus A320 when it stopped, and passengers were led down through emergency slides.
A photo of the incident, which was circulated on social media and several online news portals, showed the plane had stopped on grass verge beside the runway.
A statement from AirAsia said the airline was investigating the cause of the incident.
“A safe landing was made before the aircraft skidded off to the right side of the runway.” said the statement.
“An evacuation of the passengers was performed in an orderly manner by the crew, as soon as the surrounding areas and conditions were determined to be safe, with one passenger experiencing a slight injury from it.”
The weather condition during the time of the approach was rain with a slight gust.
The statement said AirAsia ground services personnel later attended to the passengers and it was “working together with the authorities in Brunei for the investigation of this serious incident”.
All AirAsia flights to and from Bandar Seri Begawan International Airport will continue to operate as scheduled today.
“Our team is working with the authorities to identify the cause of this incident, and AirAsia will provide further updates as necessary,” said the statement.