Rain blamed for Abu Dhabi flight skidding off runway

Aviation officials in Pakistan are trying to find out why a jetliner carrying 113 people from Abu Dhabi skidded off a runway in Peshawar on Monday, damaging the plane's front tyres as it rolled off the tarmac. None of the passengers or crew on board Shaheen Air flight NL757 was injured in the incident, which occurred during torrential rains at Peshawar International Airport. The airline yesterday blamed it on the rain. "It was coming from Abu Dhabi to Peshawar and basically it was due to bad weather," Farooq Khan, an airline spokesman, said from Karachi. "It was tremendously heavy rain and the aircraft skidded off the runway."

Mr Khan denied reports of brake failure or technical problems on the Boeing 737-200 aircraft, which can carry 130 passengers. He said it could be returned to service as early as this week. Most of the passengers were thought to be Pakistani nationals. [e-mail]