RAWALPINDI, Oct 15: President Asif Ali Zardari’s plane had a lucky escape after it developed a ‘technical fault’ moments after take-off from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Monday night.

The president was going to Baku, Azerbaijan, to attend the 12th summit of Economic Cooperation Organisation.

Sources said the plane took off at 7.10 pm from the Chaklala airbase, but returned at 7.27 pm when the pilot noticed some technical fault in the aircraft.

President Zardari and members of his entourage were offloaded and taken to the passengers’ lounge at the PAF base, the sources said.

They said when the engineers started removing the ‘fault’, it emerged that it would take a long time to declare the plane safe for flying. So it was decided to arrange another plane for the president.

The sources said the president and members of his entourage went to the civilian portion of the airport, took another plane and left for Azerbaijan.

The ECO summit opens in Baku on Tuesday.