Six injured as strong winds force plane off runway in Rome

Six people were injured yesterday when a plane belonging to Romanian carrier Carpatair ran off the runway after landing in strong winds at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport.

The Daily Mail reports that about 50 people were aboard the plane, which ended up in the grass, slightly inclined and with damaged landing gear.

Carpatair is based in Timisoara, Romania, but the aircraft was marked with the Alitalia colours and logo.

The plane was traveling from Pisa-Galileo to Rome Airport, which was affected by strong winds last night with only one runway operational.

Following the accident, the airport was temporarily closed and six people were taken to hospital, including one girl with a spinal injury.

Gulf News reports that the plane touched the ground twice before it came to a stop and one crew member was among those injured. Alitalia said in a statement that it had started an investigation and had suspended Carpatair flights operated on its behalf from Pisa and Bologna to Rome. Magistrates have also opened an investigation into the incident.

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