China: Passengers push jet after breakdown

Zhengzhou, China -- Passengers in Zhengzhou, China, say they had to push a 20-ton airplane to the terminal after it flew 500 miles and broke down after landing.

Passengers were summoned to help after an airport tow truck broke down and airport staff couldn't budge Shandong Airline's CRJ7 passenger plane, which flew from Guilin in the south of China with 69 passengers and seven crew members aboard, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

The plane landed safely before the engine failed on the runway in Zhengzhou, the Telegraph reported, noting it took nearly two hours to push the jet to its final destination.

"Thank God it was only a 20-ton, medium-sized plane," one airport worker told The Sun. "if it were a big plane, it would have knocked us out."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.