Tag: PIA flight

  • PIA’s flight to Canada lands back in Karachi after four hours

    PIA’s flight to Canada lands back in Karachi after four hours

    A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Islamabad to Toronto was diverted back to Karachi on Friday after a technical fault was noticed by the captain only four hours into the journey.

    The Boeing 777 with 268 passengers onboard was scheduled to take off from Islamabad Inter­national Airport at 2:15 pm on Friday, but departed an hour late. When flying over Russia the pilot noticed a technical issue and decided to head back.

    PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that PIA flight PK-781 was diverted back to Karachi after it developed a technical fault, reported Dawn.
    He said that after the issue was detected, the plane landed in Karachi around 1 am on Saturday.

    The spokesperson claimed that the technical problem with the aircraft was minor, but the captain preferred to return back, rather than to continue the long flight over the Atlantic.

    The decision to bring the aircraft back to Karachi was made due to better arrangements at the engineering base and availability of spare parts, he said.

    Arrangements to receive the flight at Karachi Airport were said to be in place and the passengers were accommodated at the airport hotel.
    The flight is now scheduled to depart for Toronto at 1pm today (Saturday).

    The aircraft, bearing registration number AP-BGZ, had previously reported the same fault, according to Dawn.

  • PIA staff forgets to send boy’s body with parents

    A PIA flight from Islamabad to Skardu left behind the body of a six-year-old boy at the airport on Friday, while his parents continued their journey, unaware of the horrific mistake.

    Six-year-old Mujtaba, a resident of Katshi village of Kharmang district, was diagnosed with a tumour at a hospital in Skardu a month ago. Doctors referred him to Rawalpindi for treatment. His father Muhammad Askari took him to Rawalpindi along with his wife for treatment at Benazir Bhutto Hospital. Mujtaba succumbed to his illness in the hospital on Thursday.

    The parents decided to transport the body of their child to their native village of Katshi for burial, through a PIA flight on Friday, as a 24-hour-long journey from Islamabad to Skardu by road with the body was not possible due to hot weather.

    The parents of the deceased boy were shocked and fainted at Skardu airport when they came to know that their son’s body had been left behind in Islamabad.

    Ibrahim Asadi, a relative of the deceased boy, told Dawn that the body was scheduled to be transported with the parents to Skardu at 9am.
    He said the flight was delayed for four hours and left Islamabad at 1pm.

    Upon arrival at Skardu airport at 2pm, the parents were informed that mistakenly the body was not loaded on the plane and left behind at Islamabad airport.
    The news sparked grief and outrage as parents were shocked and started crying while the boy’s mother and father fainted at the airport. Relatives of the boy waiting to receive the body also gathered at the airport’s lounge and started protest against the PIA management’s negligence. It continued for three hours.
    Officials of PIA, Civil Aviation Authority and other departments, who were on duty at Skardu airport, tried to calm down the boy’s parents and relatives and admitted their mistake. They assured the parents of bringing back the body on Saturday (today).

    PIA officials said the company which handles cargos at the airport is responsible for not loading the body and assured the parents that action would be taken against it for negligence.

    The boy’s parents and relatives chanted slogans against the PIA administration. They said the poor family had paid higher price to transport the body through the PIA flight, but the airline committed serious negligence. They appealed to the government to take action against those responsible.

    Alleged possibility of a VIP visit causing the delay

    Yousaf Kamal, another relative of the deceased boy, said the body had deliberately not been loaded on the plane. He said Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engr Amir Muqam was scheduled to fly to Gilgit from Islamabad on Friday, adding that the PIA flight from Islamabad to Gilgit couldn’t operate due to bad weather conditions.
    He said the federal minister had changed his plan and decided to go to Skardu and kept the passengers waiting. He said the flight was scheduled to depart from Islamabad at 9am, but was delayed till 1pm to accommodate the minister, leaving the body behind at the airport.

  • Islamabad bound flight escapes an accident, bird hits before landing

    Islamabad bound flight escapes an accident, bird hits before landing

    A passenger plane of a private airline was struck by a bird before landing at the Islamabad airport. The incident happened during a flight from Karachi to Islamabad on Friday morning.

    The pilot successfully managed to land the plane without any casualties or injuries. The plane was carrying around 150 passengers.

    The officials of the airline revealed that the landing gear of the plane was damaged. The return flight to Karachi was delayed as the airline’s engineers had to do some repair work. The management arranged another flight to take passengers to the port city.

    Earlier in March, a similar incident took place during a PIA flight PK-368 from Karachi to Islamabad. One of its engines was damaged on which 162 passengers were board. The plane was hit by the plane just after it took off from the runway. However, the pilot managed to land it safely.