JEDDAH: A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane, which was on a scheduled flight from Damascus to Jeddah carrying 67 people, made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport early yesterday morning.
“The Embraer 170 jet took off for Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport at 11.45 p.m., but the captain radioed the Air Traffic Control in Jeddah about his intention to make an emergency landing in Tabuk after he discovered smoke inside the cockpit,” the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said in a statement.
Subsequently, authorities at Tabuk Airport were alerted. “Flight No. SV662 landed safely in Tabuk at 01:09 a.m.,” the statement said, adding that no passenger or crew member was hurt.
Saudia bought 15 66-seater Embraer planes from Brazil in 2005. The airline received 15 E-170 jets last year from the Brazilian aircraft company. Saudia has been operating E-170s mainly on lower density, domestic routes, such as Riyadh-Najran and Riyadh-Buraidah.
