PIA flight to Medina makes emergency landing

KARACHI – A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft experienced an emergency landing at the Karachi airport due to an engine fire.

Media reports confirm that PIA’s Boeing 777 flew from Karachi to Medina on Saturday, but a few minutes into the trip, sparks were seen in one of its engines.

Initially, the pilot tried to stop the fire by using a fire extinguisher connected to the engine. However, this caused the engine to turn off while the plane was in mid-air.

After multiple failed attempts, the pilot called for emergency landing assistance and requested to land at the airport. Once the pilot got permission, the plane safely returned to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

According to a PIA spokesperson, there were 276 passengers and staff on board. A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) arrived to examine the plane’s landing.

Aviation experts say that in engine compartments, the fire bottles are usually powered by electricity. When an issue is detected by the automated fire detection system, the flight crew decides to manually activate them.

Pakistan International Airlines has been facing severe challenges for a few period of time and incidents of flight disruption have occurred multiple times.

Further, efforts to privatize Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) are also underway. The decision to privatize Pakistan International Airline (PIA) was made by the previous regime and a consultant has also been hired in this regard.