-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 Officials, the 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. The aircraft suffered substantial damage on its front wheel (Nose Landing Gear) of the aircraft during the take off.
The Airbus A330 is 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 disembark on 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
