Lucknow: Saudi jet develops snag during take-off, several flights diverted

LUCKNOW: Nearly 300 passengers of a Saudi Arabia-bound flight from Lucknow had a narrow escape when the front wheel of the aircraft came off during the take off on Wednesday evening. The aircraft eventually got stranded in the middle of the runway, forcing authorities to close the

airport

for air operations. The incident led to cancellation of at least three flights and diversion of six.

According to reports, the aircraft of Saudi Arabia airlines (SV895) with 298 passengers including six crew members on board was scheduled to depart at around 5.30 pm. The aircraft started taxing on the runway when the pilot detected a `technical snag’ and aborted the take off. Though airport officials refused to comment, sources say the problem occurred in the front wheel of the aircraft during the take off.

The Air Bus 330 aircraft, one of the heaviest flying machine operating from the

Lucknow airport

, subsequently got stranded at the runway and could not be towed away. The passengers were eventually de-planed at the runway and ferried through buses back to the terminal.

Passengers heard a loud sound

Passengers claimed they heard a loud sound moments after the aircraft gained speed on the runway.

Airport officials confirmed that at least six Lucknow-bound flights from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Patna had been diverted to Delhi.

“Flight operations could not resume without fixing the problem,” said airport director AK Sharma.

As many as three-Delhi bound flights from Lucknow—two of Jet Airways and one of Air Vistara—were cancelled.

“I was to catch an international flight from Delhi late Wednesday evening. I had to return home and book another ticket,” said Mohammad Umair, a passenger.

Chief medical superintendent of SGPGI Dr Amit Agarwal missed his Air India flight to Jaipur where he was supposed to attend a meeting.