PIA plane escapes mid-air accident
KARACHI [Pakistan]: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight narrowly escaped a crash on Saturday when one of the airplane’s engines caught fire in mid-air, ARY News reported. ARY News is a Pakistani news channel.
According to initial reports, the plane’s engine malfunctioned and caught fire in mid-air soon after taking off from Karachi to Madinah. The flight captains controlled the situation and managed to extinguish the engine fire. According to ARY News, after getting permission from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), the plane had to make an emergency landing at Karachi Airport.
All 276 passengers on board the plane were evacuated safely and shifted to a hotel, meanwhile, 92 passengers returned home. According to the PIA spokesperson, the flight will now depart from Karachi for Madinah at 5 pm local time.
Meanwhile, it was recently reported that according to ARY News, PIA is facing severe financial crisis, which has resulted in the grounding of several Boeing 777 aircraft due to inadequate funds for maintenance.
According to sources, the national flag carrier has grounded four Boeing 777 aircraft, with an estimated maintenance cost of PKR 31 to PKR 40 million per aircraft.
“PKR 31 to 40 million is required for the maintenance of the grounded Boeing 777 aircraft,” ARY News reported citing sources.
