Nails found embedded in Indian flight

Dubai, Jan 11 (UNI) Minutes before an Indian, formerly Indian Airlines, flight was to take off for Doha, officials at the Bahrain Airport discovered four nails embedded in the front right tyre of the aircraft.

Ground engineers found the five-inch-long nails during a final check on flight IC997 before departure, averting what an airline official described as a ''potential disaster''.

The nails were discovered while checking the flight which had arrived from Cochin, via Calicut and Doha, at 8.20 hrs (local time) on January 2, Gulf Daily News reported today.

Civil Aviation officials in Bahrain confirmed there had been ''an incident,'' but said the nails could have been picked up anywhere and not necessarily in Bahrain.

The flight, which originated in Cochin, had its first halt at Calicut from where it flew to Doha and then to Bahrain to return on the same route to Calicut.

The nails were detected as the boarding was in progress, and the flight left Bahrain 15 minutes behind schedule, at 1220 hrs (local time) on Thursday.

UNI