Drukair’s flight KB400, which was supposed to fly to Kathmandu, Nepal at 11:40 hours on November 18 from Paro, was cancelled because of a technical fault.

The flight was cancelled from flying after technical fault was detected before flying on the ground. The passengers had to wait for about an hour until the problem was fixed. However, the same flight had to return to Paro midway after it took off because of yet another technical fault.

The flight was rescheduled and passengers were flown to Kathmandu yesterday morning. Drukair accommodated the passengers in different hotels in Paro.

Drukair’s chief executive officer, Tandi Wangchuk, said before flying, the pilot noticed that there was an alert from sensor. “After verification, it was found that it was the malfunctioning of sensor. The sensor was replaced and the flight was rescheduled until the flight again indicated an alert from the sensor midway.”

He said that following the standard operating procedure (SOP), which mandates the flight to land in the nearest parking space if there is any fault, the plane returned to Paro.

Tandi Wangchuk said: “For us, safety of the passengers is most important and that’s why the pilot decided to return to Paro.”

He added that such technical glitches seldom occur.

Staff Reporter

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