Two PIA vehicles collide at IIA

Airport officials maintain no casualties occurred

RAWALPINDI:

Two vehicles of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday collided in the apron at Islamabad International Airport (IIA).

However, no casualty was reported in the incident as an investigation has been launched to determine what led to the collision.

Airport officials said that passengers of a Gilgit-bound flight were being boarded when a PIA luggage truck, being driven by Muhammad Jehangir, came across a coaster, driven by Nasir Shehzad and both had a head-on collision.

The windows of both vehicles shattered due to the collision, however, passengers and drivers of both the vehicles remained unhurt. According to officials, the airfield remained open and staff worked quickly to keep the disruption to a minimum.

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It should also be noted that the rain spell last week had left the ceilings of the Islamabad International Airport dripping, a recurring instance ever since the airport became operational three years ago.

As seen in the footage, after the rain spell, several spots in the ceiling of the arrival and departure lounges of domestic and international flights started dripping while the ceiling also fell incessantly.

According to the airport manager and his maintenance staff, heavy leakage occurred following the heavy rain showers that resulted in overflowing of drains on the roof of the passenger terminal building, causing several pieces of false ceiling to come off in various spots.

The then-chief justice Saqib Nisar had taken a suo moto notice of rainwater flooding the airport. During one such hearing in August 2018, he had directed the authorities to look into the IIA’s design and make the necessary amendments to prevent this from happening again.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2021.