331 Swiss International passengers get stranded 20 hours in Kazakhstan after plane goes off runway
Lufthansa Airlines Boeing 747 makes hard, bouncing landing at Los Angeles airport on Tuesday, video shows. Courtesy: Airline Videos Live via YouTube
Hundreds of air passengers had to wait nearly a day to carry on with their travels after their plane got stuck in the mud attempting to take off after a «stopover» in Kazakhstan on Saturday.
Swiss International Air Lines Flight 161's intended travel route was from Tokyo to Zurich. Instead, it stopped at Astana International Airport due to a medical incident, the airline confirmed to FOX Business.
«The passenger concerned was handed over to medical personnel on site,» Swiss International Air Lines said in a statement.
When the Boeing 777 prepared to take off again, Astana's taxiway was closed, which meant the pilots had to try to turn the plane around 180 degrees while still on the runway.
LUFTHANSA CONFIRMS 'ROUGH LANDING' BY BOEING 'TRAINING FLIGHT' CAUGHT ON CAMERA BOUNCING OFF LAX RUNWAY
A Swiss International Air Lines Boeing 777-300ER arrives at Los Angeles International Airport at the start of the Labor Day holiday on Aug. 31, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images / Getty Images)
«The aircraft's nose wheel got caught in the grass,» according to one user on X. Post pictures show the plane stuck in mud. It was towed back onto the runway before being checked for any damage.
As for the passengers, Austrian Airlines stepped in to help its «sister airline,» the company confirmed to FOX Business.
«Austrian Airlines sent a Boeing 777-200 aircraft to the Kazakh capital Astana to transport the passengers of SWISS to Vienna,» a statement reads. The 331 passengers took off 20 hours after their first plane landed in Kazakhstan.
After that, Swiss
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