PIA plane grounded in Istanbul after technical fault

Boeing 777 scheduled to arrive from Turkiye malfunctioned on taxiway before taking off

KARACHI:

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight returning from Turkiye on Wednesday was temporarily grounded in Istanbul because of a technical fault in its landing gear.

According to sources, the landing gear of PIA’s Boeing 777 scheduled to arrive from Turkiye to Pakistan suddenly malfunctioned on the taxiway before taking off.

The captain of flight PK-704 diverted the aircraft back to the boarding bridge as per the standard operating formulated for this situation.

Later, the passengers were offloaded and shifted to the airport’s lounge.

A team of engineers left from Karachi to Istanbul with spare parts for repair work.

The passengers have been sent to Pakistan by a Turkish Airlines flight.

Arrangements are under way to bring some stranded passengers to Islamabad through an alternative flight.

On Monday, another PIA’s Boeing 777, which made an emergency landing at Muscat International Airport, returned to the country after the replacement of its engine.

The replaced engine -- removed from another Boeing 777 plane grounded at Jinnah International Airport -- was airlifted to Muscat on March 10 on a C-130 cargo plane.

Carrying 392 passengers, flight PK-714 from Madina to Islamabad had to make an emergency landing at Muscat airport after one of its engines suddenly failed at an altitude of 35,000 feet.

In the past 23 years, the PIA posted some profits only since 2002 till 2004 and that too by virtue of a bailout package of Rs20 billion. However, the abnormal oil price hike over the subsequent few years in conjunction with an extended EU ban due to safety concerns, on most of its planes for flying to Europe in 2007, caused a major dent upon its profitability.

By 2012, primarily driven by an aging fleet, the PIA’s annual spend on fuel had increased to 54% of the total vis-a-vis 24% in 2003. Continuing the trend by 2017, its accumulated losses had risen to Rs356 billion.

Later, in lieu of the fake degrees’ scandal and associated safety concerns, the PIA was debarred from the EU, UK, USA and Canada in 2020, further affecting its revenues.