By John Garth
Last updated at 12:24 PM on 26th September 2008
Anyone who has ever used budget airlines know only too well how
uncomfortable it can be: long queues, cramped seats and every tiny
extra costs you.
But at least they are never told to get out and help push their
plane.
That is exactly what happened to a group of passengers in
China were after their jet broke down just after landing.
The CRJ7 plane, which had just flown some 500 miles from Guilin
in the south of the country with 69 passengers and seven crew
members on board, conked out before it could taxi to the arrivals
terminal at Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province.
Enlarge 
All together now: Passengers join airport staff to move
the jet off the runway at Zhengzhou Airport
At first, airport staff were the only ones required to help
push, but they could not budge the plane.
Even with the combined muscle power of staff and passengers, it
took the group nearly two hours to push the plane about 1,000 yards
to a side lane.
'Thank God it was only a 20-ton medium-sized airplane,' said one
of the airport workers. 'If it were a big plane, it would have
knocked us out.'
The jet was still parked in the side lane today waiting for
technicians arriving on the next flight to fix the problem.
(Link to article here)
