Malfunctioning boarding bridge grounds flight at IIA

Passengers remained stuck for over 40 minutes at the airport aboard a domestic flight of a private airline

RAWALPINDI/ KARACHI: Due to a fault in the boarding bridge, passengers remained stuck for over 40 minutes at the Islamabad International Airport aboard a domestic flight of a private airline.

“Our flight, ER 503 from Islamabad to Karachi, was delayed for 40 to 45 minutes at the Islamabad airport,’ confirmed a spokesperson for Serene Air. “The delay occurred due to a fault in the bridge.” Around 180 passengers were on board, the official said.

Sources said after boarding, officials tried to separate bridge from fuselage of aircraft. But automatic system malfunctioned. According to a CAA official, engineers had to manually remove the bridge, through a push-break before the plane could be cleared for take off.

The flight, scheduled to take off at 4:30 pm, finally flew at 5:14 pm.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2019.