Singapore Flight aborts landing in Chennai, diverted to Bangalore

CHENNAI: A Singapore Airlines Boeing fl ight with 264passengers and crew members on board aborted landing at the International Airport here and diverted to Bangalore as a cargo fl ight broke down on the runway tonight. Airport sources said the Chennai-Russia cargo fl ight being pushed to the runway got stuck in the runway as the connection rod between the push-back vehicle and the aircraft broke, forcing the Singapore Airlines fl ight to abort landing and fl y to Bangalore and land. As the Singapore fl ight belonged to the Airbus class and required the full stretch of runway for taking off and landing, the Airport authorities asked the pilot to hover around, hoping that they could bring back the cargo fl ight to the bay. However, as time was ticking away, the authorities directed the Pilot to fl y to Bangalore and land.Air India and Jet Airways fl ights, however, landed as per the schedule as they were smaller in size compared to the Airbus and do not require the full runway for landing. After the authorities brought back the Chennai-Russia cargo fl ight to the taxi-bay, the Singapore Airlines fl ight took off from Bangalore around midnight, suffering a delay of about three hours. It was scheduled to land at 2200 hrs and take off for Singapore at 2350 hrs.