A narrow escape for Emirates flight

A narrow escape for Emirates flight
Thunderstorm gives some anxious moments
BANGALORE MIRROR BUREAU


The thunderstorms that lashed the city on Wednesday not only caught Bangaloreans by surprise, but also caused major problems to an Emirates flight coming in from Dubai. The flight, EK 566, reached Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) at 5:15 in the evening, braving rough weather.
On Wednesday, the met department had predicted rain, but not hailstorm or high wind velocity, and so the flight that was carrying approximately 70 passengers had to undergo some anxious moments. According to airport sources, “The flight came in at the right time. It was supposed to land at 5:15. But by that time, the weather in the city had deteriorated badly, and unfortunately the met department was not aware of either the hailstorms or the wind velocity. When the pilot reached the runway, due to weather turbulence, he could not see the runway. He tried pulling up and that’s when the problem occurred. The wind velocity was close to 60 kms per hour, and he was pushed left towards the direction of Air Traffic Control (ATC).
“The pilot understood that if he did not pull up, they would meet with an accident. He pulled up, turned to his right and slowly manoeuvred the plane back to the runway, thus averting a disaster.”
An Emirates spokesperson said, “The flight circled above the BIAL due to bad weather. The aircraft landed at the airport without any incident.”