Hajj return: PIA plane grounded after emergency landing

Engine hits runway as jet’s tyre bursts.

LAHORE:
A Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 747 was grounded after an emergency landing at the Lahore Airport on Wednesday.

The flight, PK-2226, had flown in from Jeddah and was en route to Sialkot when it was diverted to Lahore at 9:30am due to bad weather.

A tyre of the aircraft burst when it was landing, which caused the engine to hit the runway. The PIA management grounded the plan immediately after it landed.

Initial reports had stated that a number of passengers had been injured during the landing, but the PIA aviation manager rejected the reports and said that no pilgrim was hurt.


Passengers later departed for Sialkot via flight PK-302, which arrived from Karachi around 12:30pm.

The PIA management also denied that the plane had been grounded after the emergency landing. The aviation manager said that the flight came from Jeddah and according to aviation rules, the airline was bound to arrange another flight for pilgrims.

They denied that the aircraft was grounded, saying that it would soon be utilised for normal flight operations.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2011.
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