Fans’ flight drama

A Russian plane carrying 86 passengers skidded off the runway at Faro Airport after an aborted take off. The plane, an IL-62, took off at 3pm on Tuesday on route to Ekaterinburg in Russia. The flight was full of Russian football fans, on their way home after the team was eliminated from the Euro 2004 tournament last Sunday. According to a spokesperson from the airport, there were no injuries among the passengers or crew, but the entire plane was evacuated as a precaution. The airport was closed for around two hours as the plane was moved from the end of the runway and checked over by engineers. The passengers spent the night in a five-star hotel in Vilamoura. After it had been checked over by engineers, the passengers re-boarded and the flight took off without further incident the following day. The spokesman revealed that the airport closure delayed 15 departures and that 16 arriving flights had been redirected to other airports.