Bombing at Peshawar Airport- 3 fatalities

[Panama Jack]

Bombing at Peshawar Airport earlier today:

Mon Dec 25, 10:29 PM ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A car bomb exploded near the entrance of the airport in northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, wounding at least three people, police said.

The explosion went off at around 7:10 a.m. when the airport was crowded with hundreds of people for flights to and from the Middle East.

Iftikhar Khan, a senior police officer, said the bomb was planted in a Suzuki car that was parked near the airport's main entrance and wounded at least three people. The blast shattered windows of several cars.

Police have cordoned off the area, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Peshawar is capital of the North West Frontier Province that borders Afghanistan.

There have been several recent bombings in the city including a blast at a crowded market in October that killed six people and wounded 40. It isn't clear who is behind the attacks.

[Panama Jack]

Sorry habibi, classic misread. The Spanish press has reported one fatality, I guess I am guilty of just being wildly sensationalist. :cool:

News at 7

[ironbutt57]

or was it just an overworked GPU:}

[neilb767]

Wow, amazing we saw the whole thing.

Had just pushed back and were facing the terminal, the shock wave jolted the 767.

We though it was one of our Pax who could not take the constant delays any more ....:}

Asked tower what was going on, he just ignored the question, so we did the next best thing and made like ducks and flogged off

[Panama Jack]

Hmmm, your story brings back to memory another (slightly more exciting) story I read years ago:

So, on March 29, 1975, Healy and Daly departed Saigon for Da Nang. Healy talked to the tower before landing and was advised that the airport was peaceful. However, once on the ground and taxiing to the ramp, the aircraft was mobbed, mostly by deserting South Vietnamese soldiers who were dressed in civilian clothing. The officers had fled, leaving the young enlisted men to fend for themselves. Healy kept all three engines running as Daly blocked the rear entry stairs, trying to stop the soldiers and pick up women and children. Men driving trucks, cars, jeeps and motorbikes chased the 727, desperate to get on the aircraft.

Overhead, an Air America helicopter pilot advised Healy over the radio that the runway was blocked with vehicles and he needed to take off on the taxiway, which was 7,000 feet long. A newsman that had gotten off the 727 had to be left behind because the crowd pushed hum out of reach of the plane. Healy asked the Air America pilot if he could pick him up later.

A grenade went off, damaging the left wing, and the plane had to dodge bullets as angry men left behind fired at the plane. As the airliner started its takeoff roll on the taxiway, soldiers climbed into the luggage compartments, leaving the doors open. The rear stairs were damaged and couldn't be raised all the way. Fuel lines had been hit and the aircraft was leaking fuel. As Healy continued his takeoff roll, he realized that he would have to go around a vehicle that was parked on the taxiway in front of him. A quick detour through the grass and he was back up on the taxiway with everything fire-walled for the balance of the takeoff. He pulled back on the control column, but the nose wouldn't come up.

"I waited until there was no pavement under me then gave the controls one last pull," he said.

The stick shaker went off as the plane finally rotated and started a slow climb. Several men clinging to the open stairs fell to their death. At least one person was crushed in the wheel well doors. The flight to Saigon was flown at low altitude. Captain Healy, not knowing the conditions of the landing gear, carefully put the 727 down on the runway.

The plane, which normally carries 125 passengers, had a total of 268 in the main cabin. Additionally, the cargo compartments were full of stowaways. It's estimated that the last flight from Da Nang carried over 330 people—undoubtedly, the world record for the number of passengers ever carried on a Boeing 727.