China's Eastern Airlines plane skids off runway in Sydney

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(11/1/2000) A large passenger jet of China's Eastern Airlines skidded across the tarmac on landing at Sydney International Airport Wednesday, coming to rest on a grass verge alongside the runway.

No one was injured in the incident, according to police at the scene.

Sydney International Airport's emergency procedures have been enacted following the incident during the landing of the aircraft at 11:47 am (local time), the airport's media center said.

The Airbus 340-300, carrying 190 passengers and 17 crew on board, became disabled on the main north-south runway, according to the center.

It is not yet clear how the plane became disabled, the center said.

Peter Gibbs, an official of the media center, told Xinhua that the flight number is MU 561.

Initial attempts to retrieve the disabled aircraft were not successful and, as at 6 p.m., the aircraft remained blocking the main north-south runway, the center said.

Authorities are examining the possibility that the nose wheel of the airbus failed to drop or that a tyre blew out, the police said.

Ambulance and fire brigades units were also standing by, with the plane stopped about 200 meters from a section of runway.

Airservices Australia (AA), the government organization that coordinates air traffic nationally, said the pilot of the aircraft reported landing gear difficulties just before touching down.

"He notified of a problem with the plane's hydraulics which led us to instigate standby emergency procedures," AA spokesman Scott Sloane said.

"But when the aircraft came to a halt off the runway, police and ambulance crews were also called in," he said.

http://chinadaily.com.cn.net/cover/storydb/2000/11/01/cn-skid.b01.html

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), November 01, 2000


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