June 22, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 21: An Airblue aircraft bound for Karachi aborted take-off on Thursday after developing a technical fault at the Islamabad airport and blocked the runway for almost one and a half hours.

Airport officials said the A-321 aircraft on flight ED-209 aborted take-off at about 5.10pm. No one was injured and the passengers had to disembark on the runway.

The airstrip remained blocked till 6.30pm due to which the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) diverted three of its incoming flights to Lahore and Peshawar.

Gulf Air and Etihad planes were held up in the air as the runway was being cleared.

“The nose wheel got stuck after its pin broke,” airport manager Salman Ather informed.

Airblue’s chief executive Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi termed the incident unusual. “Luckily it did not happen at high-speed mode so there was no damage to the aircraft,” Mr Abbasi said, adding that only one of the pins was damaged while the other remained intact.

The 159 passengers of the cancelled flight were left stranded at the airport as no alternative flight was offered to them.

The passengers regretted what they called the ‘indifference and callousness’ of the airline’s staff and said that most of them vanished after the incident.

However, Mr Abbasi said the passengers would be accommodated on the next available flight and a special flight.