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With fuel left for just about five minutes in air, pilot brings actor, 206 others, back from the jaws of death
Fire on the craft The fire in the Airbus 747-400 began 15 minutes after it took off at 3 am, when it was flying at a height of 33,000 ft above MSL, still under the surveillance of the Mumbai ATC. "Normally, when there is a situation that warrants an emergency landing, the pilot decides to jettison enough fuel to lighten the aircraft. The quantity of fuel is only enough for the aircraft to remain in air for an hour," said A K Saxena, a retired sergeant from the Indian Airforce. The plane made an emergency landing at 4.10 am, leaving it with fuel for just five minutes. Losing fuel The airline did not comment on how much fuel was left in plane, "British Airways does not disclose the details of any of its passengers or crew due to the UK data protection act," said the spokesperson. An ATC official added, "This type of situation is always a challenge for both the ATC and the pilot when the fuel is being jettisoned and landing is delayed." ATC general manager M G Jhungare said, "Any flight at this height will take at least 45 minutes to one hour for landing." We called Saif at 12.30 am IST; he had just reached London. He politely told us, "I don't want to talk about it." Girlfriend Kareena Kapoor did not reply to our calls or text messages. |
Anupamaa
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