PHUKET: A Russian plane was finally removed from a taxiway at Phuket airport after it broke down during a takeoff attempt, forcing the cancellation of all flights from Saturday evening until early Sunday morning.
Airport management said its air traffic control staff spotted smoke from the right engine of the twinjet Boeing 767-300ER as it attempted to take off for Moscow at 4.30pm on Saturday.
After being informed of the smoke, the captain aborted the takeoff, managing to force the speeding plane to stop on the runway.
It took about 40 minutes to move the Azur Air plane to a taxiway intersection, where it blocked other flights from landing or taking off.
Subsequent repairs…
