PIA boards PPP leaders on wrong flight

Sherry Rehman says party leaders made to board ATR for Multan instead of Sukkur

Pakistan Peoples Party vice-president Senator Sherry Rehman on Tuesday said Pakistan International Airlines made party members board a wrong flight.

"PIA boarded us on the wrong ATR for Multan instead of Sukkur," she tweeted. The PPP leader added they were on the right plane now "but no bakra in sight!"



PPP leaders and workers are headed to Garhi Khuda Bux to mark the ninth death anniversary of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

PIA boarded us on the wrong ATR for Multan instead of Sukkur 🙏now on right plane but no bakra in sight! #PPP pic.twitter.com/dSixkGex97

— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) December 27, 2016

Airline statement

Meanwhile, PIA spokesperson in a statement said two ATR aircrafts were parked on adjacent bays at Karachi airport and due to some confusion the Sherry’s coach driver dropped her at the wrong bay. “However as she approached the aircraft operating for Multan, the staff present outside the aircraft corrected her and guided her to the other one which was parked a few steps away,” read the statement.

The spokesperson further said such instances are very rarely reported but confusion may occur in case of simultaneous departures. “Inquiry has been ordered into the incident.”

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.



Two weeks ago, a bizarre picture took social media by storm. The picture showed some men slaughtering a black goat near a PIA passenger jet while an Airport Security Force soldier stood nearby. Initially, the picture was thought to be photo-shopped, but it wasn’t. The picture was snapped at Islamabad’s Benazir International Airport before a PIA ATR aircraft took off for Multan.

Aviation sources said the ritual sacrifice shows fear besetting PIA employees associated with flight operations, especially those assigned to ATRs. “Ever since the flight PK-661 crashed, the staff sits fingers crossed whenever a flight takes off,” one source claimed.