KARACHI, May 13: An air bridge connecting a Boeing 747 jumbo jet with the international terminal fell on Sunday evening due to a hydraulic system failure and damaged a window and the body of the aircraft soon after over 500 passengers boarded the Jeddah-bound plane.

However, no one was hurt in the incident.

Sources said the passengers were shifted to the lounge and the plane was being moved to the PIA engineering department for a thorough examination to assess the full extent of the damage and subsequent repairs.

The sources said the affected travellers would be offered an alternative flight, which was scheduled to arrive from Saudi Arabia late Sunday night, to reach their destination early Monday morning.

Responding to Dawn queries, Karachi airport manager Nasir Sheikh said the PIA’s Jeddah-bound B-747 aircraft was parked at the Bay 25 and connected with the terminal through an air bridge.

He said the hydraulic system of the air bridge malfunctioned after over 502 passengers boarded the flight (PK 731) and the aircraft door closed. Due to the fault, the air bridge fell and caused some damage to the plane, he said.

Luckily, all the passengers and ground staff remained safe, said Mr Sheikh.

He added that the plane was stopped from proceeding and the passengers were being shifted to the lounge. He confirmed to Dawn that the passengers would be offered an alternative flight to Jeddah early Monday morning.

He said a thorough checking of the aircraft and repairs would be carried out. “The plane will be allowed to resume operations only after it gets clearance from the CAA.”

In reply to a question, the airport manager said that maintenance work on the air bridges was carried out on a regular basis.

He added that some air bridges were over a couple of decades old, but they were always kept in good condition.

“It was unusual that the hydraulic system collapsed and the bridge fell down,” he wondered and said it would be probed that how that happened so that such incidents could be averted.