A plane from Angolan state airline TAAG made an emergency landing on Monday in Lisbon just 15 minutes after taking off from the Portuguese capital due to technical problems, officials said.
The Boeing 747, which was bound for the Angolan capital Luanda, landed safely at Portela airport, Portugal’s busiest, just before 7am (6am GMT) as fire trucks stood by as a precaution, an airport spokesperson said.
Airline officials did not provide details on the nature of the technical difficulties which forced the plane to land but passengers told the Lusa news agency it appeared to have difficulty gaining altitude and zig-zagged while in the air.
The plane is scheduled to depart on Tuesday and passengers were put up by the airline at Lisbon hotels, said TAAG’s representative in Portugal, Abilio Fernandes.
”We’re waiting for a piece of equipment to place in the plane,” he said.
Last week civil aviation authorities in Angola, a former Portuguese colony, ordered TAAG to suspend its domestic and regional flights in Africa because it said the aircraft used on these routes were not being properly maintained. – Sapa-AFP