An aircraft of Sita Airlines bound for Kathmandu from Pokhara made an emergency landing at Bharatpur airport, as the windscreen of the Dornier aircraft, 9N-AHB, suddenly began to crack, the Rising Nepal said Monday.

It happened just 12 minutes after takeoff from Pokhara airport at 11:15 a.m. with 18 people abroad, the daily said.

Captain Nabin Gurung made the emergency landing to avoid a possible accident, the daily quoted Keshav Lamsal, Airport runway officer at Bharatpur, as saying.

The fluctuation in the weather’s temperature might have caused the screen to crack, Gurung said. It was raining when the plane was flying, the daily said.

After making a forced landing at the airport at 11:24 a.m., the passengers were sent to Kathmandu by bus, the daily said.

The aircraft flew to Kathmandu at 5:10 in the evening after necessary maintenance by technicians brought from Kathmandu, the daily quoted officials at the Bharatpur airport, as saying. nepalnews.com mr Dec 29