Lufthansa plane makes emergency landing in Tel Aviv after engine fails
German carrier forced to circle back to Ben Gurion less than 30 minutes after takeoff
A Lufthansa plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport Thursday morning after losing an engine shortly after takeoff.
Passengers aboard the Airbus A321 told the Ynet news website they heard a large bang on the right side of the plane before the pilot turned back less than 30 minutes in to the flight to Germany.
צוותי מד"א בנתב"ג לאחר נחיתתו בשלום של מטוס "לופטהנזה" (צילום: תיעוד מבצעי מד"א) pic.twitter.com/8HvSm8WZWh
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) September 21, 2017
Among the 180 passengers and crew members on board was Joint (Arab) List MK Ahmad Tibi, who told the news site afterwards the ordeal was “scary.”
“It wasn’t an easy experience. About 20 minutes after we took off, I heard a nose from the right side of the plane. I’ve flown a lot and never heard anything like that before,” he said. “The pilot turned the plane around and told us there was a technical problem… It was scary.”
Some 50 ambulances and fire trucks were on the tarmac at Ben Gurion when the plane returned. No injuries were reported.
