Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced special flights to bring back Pakistani students, “stranded in Ukraine.” PIA has scheduled two special flights that will leave tomorrow for Poland.
“In coordination with FollowPakistan Embassy in Ukraine, PIA has planned repatriation FLTs for Pak Students stranded in Ukraine, the first 2 FLTs wud leave tomorrow for Poland from where they will be repatriated to safety & united with their families. PIA always steps forward when the nation demands,” PIA wrote in a tweet.
In coordination with @PakinUkraine, #PIA has planned repatriation FLTs for Pak Students stranded in @Ukraine, the first 2 FLTs wud leave tomorrow for @Poland from where they will be repatriated to safety & united with their families. PIA always steps forward when nation demands
The Pakistan Embassy in Ukraine has managed to evacuate at least 70 students from Kharkiv city. Kharkiv city is one of the main battle grounds between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
The Embassy of Pakistan Ukraine has managed to evacuate 70 students from Kharkiv city which is one of the main battle grounds between Ukrainian and Russian forces. They will be received today at around 11am by Embassy facilitation desk at Lviv Railway Station@SMQureshiPTIpic.twitter.com/kEmzKsnbkP
A picture of a crew member of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) calming a restless baby during a flight recently went viral on social media.
Fakhr-e-Alam shared a picture of the head purser on an Islamabad-Karachi flight holding a baby in his arms.
The singer shared that the PIA official had come to help an exhausted mother and soothe the crying baby to give her a break.
“A friend onboard [a] PIA Islamabad to Karachi early morning flight yesterday shared this. A baby was crying non-stop, the mother was exhausted and stressed, she couldn’t comfort the child,” shared Alam.
“So the head purser Mr Tauheed helped the child sleep. Now that truly is GREAT people to fly with,” added the singer.
A friend onboard @Official_PIA ISD to KHI early morning flt yesterday shared this. A baby was crying non stop, the mother was exhausted & stressed, she couldn’t comfort the child. So the head pursur Mr.Tauheed helped the child sleep. Now that truly is GREAT people to fly with. pic.twitter.com/yM4aynPA1i
Soon after the singer’s post, social media users started praising the act of kindness.
We all should encourage these type act of kindness and avoid bad comments. We all know that the previous governments did nig damage to pia but hopefully now the pia is on track…
I had been in PIA with my son of 6 months & he started crying when the flight took off , the air hostess came and tried to console him , helped me by telling me to cover his ears and even held him for some time too … I wish I could have taken the pic too of that sweet lady
Later, in an interview with ARY’s Morning Show Bakhabar Sawera, the officer, Tauheed said that he had no idea he would go viral.
“I had no idea someone is recording me. I don’t know who took my pictures or made me viral,” said Tauheed, adding: “It is a part of our duty to take care of our passengers. It is a part of our training to ensure their safety on a flight, and take care of their needs.”
United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag carrier Etihad Airways sent its second flight to Israel in less than a month on Tuesday, carrying medical aid to help Palestinians tackle the coronavirus pandemic, witnesses and officials said.
Jordan and Egypt aside, Arab countries have no official diplomatic ties with Israel, but Gulf Arab nations have had ever more publicly warm ties with Israel of late, partly over shared rivalry with Iran.
In mid-May, the UAE flew its first publicly announced flight to Israel, also an Etihad flight carrying coronavirus aid for the Palestinians.
But Tuesday’s aircraft bore for the first time the logo of the Arab carrier, a source with knowledge of the flight told AFP.
It is “the first time that a plane carrying Etihad’s marking is landing in Israel”, the source said.
Israel’s foreign affairs ministry confirmed that Tuesday’s flight was the second one to Israel from the UAE.
“It is the second direct flight from the UAE and it has medical aid for the Palestinians,” the ministry said.
The aid “will be given to the UN to distribute,” it said.
Palestinian premier Mohammed Shtayyeh said the Palestinians had not been informed about the flight.
“The Emirati plane took us by surprise, we didn’t know about it,” he told foreign journalists at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
He voiced appreciation for the aid but said the delivery should have been coordinated.
“When China decides to help us, they coordinate with us, when any country in the world is extending its assistance, they tell us,” he told foreign journalists in Ramallah.
In another sign of warming ties between Israel and Gulf Arab nations, the Jewish state Tuesday congratulated the UAE on its bid to launch the first Arab space probe.
That and the latest flight came as Israel prepares to potentially move forward in July with annexing its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.
A peace plan announced by US President Donald Trump in January gave the green light for such annexations as well as creating a reduced Palestinian state, crucially lacking a capital in east Jerusalem.
The Palestinians have rejected the proposals and Shtayyeh said Tuesday the Palestinians had submitted a counter-proposal to the Quartet mediating in the conflict, namely the United Nations, United States, Russia and the European Union.
Analysts say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes Arab states normalising with Israel will push the Palestinians to reach a peace deal, not the other way around.
In yet another tragic chapter of Pakistan’s aviation history, Karachi-bound flight PK8303 of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from Lahore on Friday crashed in a residential area of the port city a bit over a minute away from the airport, and two days before Eid.
A Google Maps screen grab of the distance from the crash site of PIA’s PK8303 to the airport
A majority among the 91 passengers of the ill-fated flight — also carrying seven crew members — was of those who were heading back home to celebrate Eid in Karachi, as the government lifted the ban imposed on domestic air travel to curb the spread of COVID-19.
While a rescue operation is underway and conflicting reports about the number of survivors and fatalities pour in, here’s everything we know so far.
THE FLIGHT AND THE CRASH:
The aircraft, which FlightRadar24.com identified as a 15-year-old Airbus A320, took off from the eastern city of Lahore for Karachi.
“The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem,” the national carrier’s spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said in a video statement. “He was told from the final approach that both the runways were ready where he can land, but the pilot decided that he wanted to do a go-round.”
Speaking to a foreign media outlet, one senior civil aviation official said it appeared the plane was unable to open its wheels due to a technical fault prior to landing, but it is too early to determine the cause.
“The plane first hit a mobile tower and then crashed over houses,” a witness Shakeel Ahmed said near the site, just a few kilometres short of the airport — in the Jinnah Garden area of Malir’s Model Colony.
A video, purportedly showing Fridays crash, is also doing rounds over mainstream and social media.
CAUSE OF THE CRASH:
While it still remains too early to determine the cause of the crash, an audio clip of the last conversation between the flight’s pilot and the control tower has been released.
The pilot sent a Mayday — emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications — and told controllers the aircraft had lost power from both its engines on its second attempt to land.
After the aircraft reportedly called off an earlier attempt to land and went around for a second attempt, a controller radioed the pilot that he appeared to be turning left, suggesting he was off-course.
The pilot replied, “We are returning back, sir, we have lost engines,” and the controller cleared the plane to land on either of Karachi airport’s two West-Southwest-facing runways.
Twelve seconds later the pilot called “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” and was again cleared to use either runway. There was no further communication from the aircraft.
PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik confirmed that the pilot, in his last words, had said that there was a technical fault with the aircraft. “The pilot was told that both runways were ready for him to land. However, the pilot decided to do a go-around. Why did he do that, due to what technical reason, that we will find out,” he said, before hopping on a plane to Karachi.
While experts say that what actually caused the crash “will only be determined after the black boxes are opened”, it has been learnt that there has been no permanent director general for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the past two years.
POSSIBLE SURVIVORS AND FATALITIES?
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Bank of Punjab (BoP) President and CEO Zafar Masud as well as Urban Unit CEO Khalid Sherdil were also on the ill-fated flight that crashed in Karachi, seats 1C and 1F, respectively.
According to reports, Masud was shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Malir Cantt, where he is receiving treatment and is said to be out of danger. There was no word on Sherdil by the time this report was filed.
As per various unconfirmed reports, anywhere between 14 to 40 passengers have survived. Dozens of others, however, are feared dead, which also include locals who are said to be buried under debris of their houses, or lost their lives due to the fire that broke out following the crash.
A rescue operation is underway and the military has also rushed to the aid of civilian authorities.
Update #PIA Incident: Army Quick Reaction Force & Pakistan Rangers Sindh troops reached incident site for relief and rescue efforts alongside civil administration. Details to follow.
Update #PIA Incident: To speed up relief & rescue efforts, Army Urban Search & Rescue Team with special equipment & rescue specialists flown from Rwp. 10 fire tenders at site have extinguished fire. Military ambulances busy in rescuing injured & providing necessary medical care.
Military’s assistance to speed up relief and rescue efforts in the densely populated area was announced by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
PRESIDENT, PM REACT TO CRASH:
As condolences pour in, President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan have offered their condolences to the families of the victims while also praying for the safety and earliest recovery of the survivors.
The premier has ordered an investigation into the tragedy as well.
Shocked & saddened by the PIA crash. Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi & with the rescue & relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now. Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased.
“Shocked and saddened by the PIA crash. Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi and with the rescue and relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now [sic],” he tweeted, announcing that an immediate inquiry would follow.
A Karachi-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Lahore on Friday crashed a bit over a minute away from the port city’s airport, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sources said.
The plane that crashed in Karachi’s Model Colony, was reportedly carrying 95 passengers.
A video available with The Current showed houses located in the locality’s Jinnah Bagh area on fire.
WATCH VIDEO:
Rescue teams are en route to the site of the crash, a cloud of thick black smoke can be seen over which.
