High wind pushes stationary plane into wall

RAWALPINDI: A stationary aircraft of a private airline parked at Benazir Bhutto International Airport slammed into the wall of the office of an airport handling service due to the sheer force of the strong winds that hit Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

The front side of Shaheen Airlines airplane was partially damaged in the accident that occurred a little before Iftar.

Airport sources said the airplane was parked at Bay No. 5 when it started moving due to the force of the wind blowing at 125km per hour.

The plane first hit the baggage trolleys and then smashed into the Royal Airport Services motor-transport office. No casualty was reported.

A source said it looked as if the wheel chocks placed around the aircraft slid away, causing the plane to crash into the wall.

Airport Manager Ayaz Jadoon confirmed the incident.

“Though there was no major damage to the airplane, the engineers are examining the nose wheel which hit the trolleys,” Mr Jadoon said.

When asked whether the plane was fit to fly, he said it will be allowed to operate only after the engineers declare it fit.

Shaheen Airlines A-300 had landed at the airport at 11:40am and its flight was scheduled to take off for Jeddah at 11:30pm.

Meanwhile, the airport’s entry gate was also damaged in the thunderstorm. The airport authorities also faced problems in operating the gate due to the force of the wind.

Published in Dawn, July 10

Source Article:   http://www.dawn.com