ISLAMABAD, March 14: Islamabad Airport was closed down after a South African plane coming from Muscat made an emergency landing on Wednesday. The plane was carrying three crew members all of whom remained unhurt. The accident took place at around 7am when the special cargo plane (G-159 type) made a belly landing on runway No 30 after its wheels failed to open.

Ground emergency crew gathered around the aircraft which left black skid marks on the runway. The plane was then tugged away to the PAF base.

When the spokesman for Pakistan Air Force was contacted, he simply said: “It was a non-PAF aircraft”.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) took all necessary measures for the emergency landing after the pilot informed the control tower that the plane’s front landing gear had malfunctioned.

Due to the emergency landing, the airport was closed at 7:03am and cleared at around 8:30am, the spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, Mubarak Shah, told Dawn.

One PIA flight (PK-366) coming to Islamabad from Karachi was diverted to Lahore, however, no other flight was disturbed, the spokesman said.