Yemeni plane with 150 on board in technical failure: Passenger recounts scary scenario

Nearly150 passengers escaped death when the pilot of their Yemeni aircraft en route to Saudi Arabia managed to return to airport after it suffered a technical failure and nearly plunged into the sea, press reports said on Tuesday.

The plane was flying from the Yemeni capital Sanaa to the Western Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah when one of its engines failed, they said, quoting Sameeh Al Maalami, a Yemeni TV sport announcer, who was on board of the aircraft.

“We were going for Umrah (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia when the plane started to jerk violently up and down.

“We were first were told it was just air gap but the situation later started to get worse,” he said on his Twitter page.

“The plane then began to plunge quickly towards the sea and everyone, including the cabin crew members, started to scream and luggage began to fall off all over the place.

“We then started to say our prayers but the pilot managed to head back to Sanaa and landed safely. This great pilot saved our lives.”

[Image via Shutterstock]

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