Mansour Al-Shihri and Saeed Al-Bahiss Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH/DAMMAM – A Riyadh-bound plane carrying 120 passengers was diverted to Dammam airport Sunday afternoon after adverse weather conditions prevented it from landing at King Khaled International Airport. Flight No. 225 took off from Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport at 3.40 p.m. Sunday, but could not land in Riyadh due to bad weather, said Khaled Al-Alkami, one of the passengers on board. After the plane circled the Riyadh airport for 45 minutes, the control tower directed the captain to divert the flight to King Fahd International Airport in Dammam for reasons of safety. Al-Alkami said during the flight oxygen level inside the cabin dropped and, in the ensuing panic, five passengers developed breathing difficulties. Two doctors on board the plane gave them first aid at the captain's request.Before landing at Dammam, the captain radioed the control tower to keep ambulances ready. Meanwhile, an official source at nasair denied reports in a section of the media that there were several cases of injuries among passengers on a flight from Jeddah to Riyadh. The source said the plane encountered difficult weather conditions during attempts to land at Riyadh due to sandstorms and poor visibility on the runway. The plane returned to Riyadh after weather conditions improved, said the source.
