Pilot returns plane to Pula due to technical hitch

A Boeing 737 plane flying from Pula to Gatwick returned to the airport in the northern Croatian coastal city of Pula shortly after it departed for Great Britain on Tuesday afternoon, due to some fault.

The flight service is organised by the British Thompson company. The spokeswoman for the Croatian Transport Ministry, Marina Halužan, said that the plane with 190 passengers and seven crew members aboard departed from Pula at 1410 hrs Tuesday.

Soon after that, the crew noticed some smoke in the cabin an the pilot decided to return to Pula, where the Boeing 737 plane landed at 1418 hrs. Mechanics checked the plane and established that the smoke had come from a food preparation area.

After the removal of the hitch, the passengers will leave Croatia on the same plane, reads a statement from the ministry.


(Hina)