Pak airforce plane lands at Lucknow for refuelling

LUCKNOW: A Pakistan Air Force aircraft, with five military personnel on board, was allowed to land at the airport here for refuelling last afternoon, official sources said today.

The aircraft, which had taken off from Rawalpindi, was allowed by the Indian Air Force to land at the Chowdhury Charan Singh Airport here for refuelling, they said, adding that it took off for the Bangladesh port city of Chittagong after about 50 minutes.

"There was no emergency. There was a Pakistani aircraft movement, that is PAAF-854 from Rawalpindi to Lucknow (which) landed at 1201 hours yesterday and departed for Chittagong at 1252 hours," District Magistrate Rajshekhar said when asked about the landing.

He said the Indian Air Force had cleared it for landing as it was a Pakistan Air force flight.

To questions, Airport Director SC Hota told PTI said it was a "technical landing" and added that soon after refuelling, the plane left for its final destination at the major port city of Bangladesh.

He said there were five military personnel on board the flight. However, the type of the aircraft or what it was carrying could not be ascertained.