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Kabaka Ronald Mutebi and the Vice-President, Gilbert Bukenya, point at far-off hills following a meeting at Mutebi’s Kireka palace on Friday. Bukenya was on a plane that was discovered to be faulty on Saturday |
By Chris Kiwawulo
THERE was panic at Entebbe Airport yesterday when a mechanical fault was discovered on a British Airways plane that was due to take off in the morning.
The plane, with 202 passengers on board, was destined for Heathrow Airport in London.
According to an airport official, the Boeing 062 had been cleared to take off only for it to be discovered at the last minute that all its tyres were flat.
The problem was discovered at the end of the runway as the plane was about to take off. By Saturday afternoon the plane was still grounded on the runway.
The Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson, Vianney Luggya, said: “The flight was aborted due to a technical problem, which is now being investigated.”
The plane was supposed to leave Entebbe at around 10:50am, Luggya said.
The Police Fire Brigade rushed to the scene to evacuate the panicking passengers who included the Vice-President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, and state minister for animal husbandry Bright Rwamirama.
According to the Vice-President’s press secretary, Linda Nabusayi, Bukenya was heading for the US and Italy on official visits. Nabusayi said the vice-president would fly to Nairobi at 6:00pm from where he would connect to the US.
It was, however, not clear when the other passengers who had been on the faulty plane would be able to travel as attempts to get a comment from British Airways were futile.
This is the second mishap Bukenya has encountered aboard a British Airways plane. A few years ago, Bukenya was aboard a plane which developed a technical problem immediately after take-off. The pilot had to dump the plane’s fuel so as to land safely.
A team of experts from civil aviation and the British Airways yesterday rushed to Entebbe Airport to examine the plane and establish the cause of the glitch.
The hiccup comes hardly six months after a South-African registered plane crashed at Entebbe, killing two people. The plane belonged to Fugro Airborne Surveys Ltd.
Published on: Saturday, 1st March, 2008
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