Wheel failure forces Saudi jet back to airport

A Saudi passenger aircraft on a domestic flight was forced to return to airport nearly 45 minutes after takeoff on Thursday because of a wheel failure, a newspaper in the Gulf kingdom reported on Saturday.

The Nas Air had taken off on a flight from the southern province of Jazan near the border with Yemen to the Saudi capital Riyadh when the pilot detected the problem, the Arabic language daily 'Sabq' said.

The pilot decided to return to Jazan and kept hovering over the airport before landing amidst extensive safety measures.

“The passengers went through a state of horror for 45 minutes before the plane landed,” the paper said without mentioning the number of passengers on board. 

 Nas Air is a subsidiary of the Saudi National Air Services. It is based in Riyadh and it is the first low-cost carrier in Saudi Arabia.