Jet skids off runway causing Kathmandu airport chaos

KATHMANDU: A Malaysian jet carrying 139 people that aborted its takeoff and skidded into mud forced Kathmandu airport to shut down for more than 12 hours causing flight chaos on Friday after the latest near miss on the city’s notoriously dangerous runway.

Nobody was hurt in the incident but hundreds of passengers had flights out of the Nepalese capital cancelled and all incoming flights were diverted after the Malindo Airlines Boeing 737 went off the runway late on Thursday.

The jet was speeding down the Tribhuvan International Airport runway when the pilots detected a problem and aborted takeoff, airport spokesman Prem Nath Thakur said.