PIA staff sacrifice black goat as ATR operations resume

ATR flight operations were suspended following the PK-661 crash that killed 47 people

It seems the national flag-carrier isn't taking anything for granted when it comes to its ATR fleet as some PIA staff members decided to slaughter a black goat at Islamabad airport's tarmac as ATR operations resumed.

"The officials sacrificed a goat as a gesture of gratitude as the ATR aircraft resumed flight operations," a PIA official told The Express Tribune. The official, however, clarified that it wasn't a management-level decision. There was no official statement from PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani till the filing of this report.

On December 12, PIA temporarily suspended its ATR operations after a ATR crash killed 47 people and a second ATR aircraft reported technical issues shortly before it was supposed to take off overnight.

On the same day, PIA chairman Azam Saigol tendered his resignation on 'personal grounds.' Saigol blamed engine failure for the December 7 crash. The airline has since then taken a number of remedial measures to avoid any untoward incident.

Popular singer-turned-evangelist Junaid Jamshed, two Austrians, and a Chinese national were also on the PIA flight PK-661, which came down in the hills of Gagan, in Batolni village, some seven kilometres away from Havelian city, at around 4pm.



PHOTO: INP



It wasn't long before social media took PIA to task for taking the 'easy' way out to solve its problems: 

 

when Charles Perrow was working on his theory of Normal Accidents, he totally missed out on 'kala bakras' as a hedge against accidents. #PIA

— EH (@ejazhaider) December 18, 2016

#PIA makes it obligatory to slaughter a black goat on the runway before the take-off. Goats prices go high.#ATR

— Dr Saqlain Shah 💙 (@DrSaqlainSh) December 18, 2016

Why was the Goat sacrificed? Pilot doesnt trust the plane? PIA doesnt trust the Pilot? CAA doesnt trust PIA or Passengers dont trust anyone?

— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) December 18, 2016

#PIA's #ATR plane reached its destination.

Moral: Black-goat slaughter works perfectly.

— Dr Saqlain Shah 💙 (@DrSaqlainSh) December 18, 2016

A primitive people... After a series of mishaps Pakistan Airline PIA official slaughters a black goat to ward of evil pic.twitter.com/GIFmzGiovR

— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) December 18, 2016