An airplane of the British Airways was forced to carry out a emergency landing in Uzbekistan after a passenger fell ill on board. The 83-year-old woman died shortly after arriving in the capital, Tashkent. Flight BA260 departed Islamabad (Pakistan) at 00:38 on Wednesday and was scheduled to depart for London Heathrow Airport. However, according to Uzbek media reports, the Boeing 777 had to make an emergency landing exactly two hours and 50 minutes after the flight began. Other passengers were taken off the plane and were allegedly waiting at the terminal of the former Soviet state, on the border with Afghanistan. «We are very sorry, this flight was diverted to Tashkent», reads a message carried by the British Airways flight tracker.
The flight is expected to continue to London after the necessary formalities have been completed. The identity or nationality of the woman has not been made public at the moment. An airport official told Russian news agency TASS that the passenger was there «overheard and the captain decided to make an emergency landing in Tashkent». «Immediately after, the passenger died», said the official, who was not named. The flight was further delayed after a «technical problem» while refueling the flight, according to Uzbek media.
A special dispensation had to be granted to a local engineer to repair a malfunctioning pump on the Boeing 777, an aircraft not normally seen in Tashkent. After the repairs, the crew’s hours had expired and they were ordered to rest before being given the green light to continue the interrupted flight.
BA Boeing 777 flight from Pakistan to Heathrow makes emergency landing in Uzbekistan https://t.co/lNrsUP0wVk
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) September 22, 2021
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