Pakistan

PIA plane engine catches fire, all passengers safe

A fire erupted in the engine of a lahore-bound PIA plane at the Karachi airport early Friday morning.

Express July 30, 2010

A fire erupted in the engine of a lahore-bound PIA plane at the Karachi airport early Friday morning.

Sources said that the flight, PK 302, was taxiing on the runway when a bird smashed into its engine number one.

Ambulances and rescue teams reached the spot to put out the fire.

Spokesman for PIA, Sultan Hasan said all the passengers are safe and will be taken to Lahore through another flight. An emergency has been declared at the airport.

COMMENTS (11)

Yousaf | 14 years ago | Reply I gave an option to my father to cancel the ticket on PIA and put him on another relatively safe International Airline. He is a bit patriotic to choose PIA as whole of his life he has travel on National Carrier. Our governance is endlessly corrupt & a tussle between Pilots & Management will lead nowhere but to make passenger suffering from this dilema. act as a nation... everyone has to go back to Allah..think what you are leaving for your future generations..

Saleem Siddiqi | 14 years ago | Reply There are lot of Bird activity around our Airports especially Karachi Airport which is very hazardous for incoming and outgoing planes. A single Bird smashing onto its Wind Screen or entering into Engine can be fatal. I remember, there is special staff around Airport designated to shoot down such errand Birds flying Airport territory near Jinnah Air Terminal. But what is the success rate and their performance, should be highlighted in the press and their performance needs to be greatly improved with latest weaponary. Safety in Pakistan is not regarded as an important issue as our Government has "other" priorities. This way we are playing with the live of innocent but precious lives of the people. A strict discipline is needed and enforced to over come this problem. Let pray and hope that this area is effectively managed by those who are at the Whims of the Government to do so. Regards Dr. Saleem Siddiqi Qatar

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Ali | 14 years ago | Reply I agree with Mr. Mehdi Shah, the A320 had just rotated when a dual engine flameout forced the pilot to the ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River. I however, would like to shed some light on Mr. Rehman's statement. The aircraft in question was particularly the Boeing 747-300. I can name you dozens of airlines who operate the same aircraft, both as passenger jets and freighters. PIA engineering is widely respected and has been able to keep airplanes in servicable quality throughout the years. However, i do agree with the points raised in regard to corruption. Transparency has to be introduced and government intervention reduced. As far as safety measures are concerned, i personally know a few pilots in PIA. All of them are put through rigorous testing before being permitted to fly a particular aircraft, are tested for new routes and are continually tested in simulations to certify the fact that they are the very best at what they do. But no matter how good the pilot is, the airworthiness of the aircraft always comes into question. But PIA's fleet have always been well maintained. The Airbus 310s, the ATR 42-500s, B747s and B777s are quite airworthy. And i would just like to add that just because its a Pakistani organization doesnt imply that it will be pathetic at what they do. I for one always feel proud when i am one of the "Great People to Fly With".

mehdi shahi | 14 years ago | Reply i birdxz hitting incidents are common in aviation industry.if I say birds hit planes some where in the world wekly will not be wrong but it does not cause crash.IN JAN 2009 a US AIR BUS A-320 carrying 155 PAX on board flew from NEWYORK l...aguar...dia airpot for CHARLOTTE{NORTH CAROLINA}. it was only three minutes to air born by us1549 FLT .and the plane was in process of climbing that a folk of canadian gees all of a sudden made a double hit to air craft. as a result both the engines stoped working.CAPT declared emergency since JFK AIRPOT EVEN THE LGA AIRPORT and NEWJERSY AIRPORT EWR were out of reach for this landing.captain decided crash landing in HUDSON RIVER which is in the city of NEWYORK. wow the captain saved 155 psgrs on board and made a crash landing in hudsun river .what I mean to say hitting by birds seldom crashes the AIR CRAFT .birds hitting is a serious threat to AIRLINERS no doubt. IT is civil aviation that need to take a relook.

mehdi shahi | 14 years ago | Reply Birds hitting incidents are common in aviation industry.if I say birds hit planes some where in the world wekly will not be wrong but it does not cause crash.IN JAN 2009 a US AIR BUS A-320 carrying 155 PAX on board flew from NEWYORK l...aguardia airpot for CHARLOTTE{NORTH CAROLINA}. it was only three minutes to air born by us1549 FLT .and the plane was in process of climbing that a folk of canadian gees all of a sudden made a double hit to air craft. as a result both the engines stoped working.CAPT declared emergency since JFK AIRPOT EVEN THE LGA AIRPORT and NEWJERSY AIRPORT EWR were out of reach for this landing.captain decided crash landing in HUDSON RIVER. wow the captain saved 155 psgrs on board and made a crash landing in hudsun river .what I mean to say hitting by birds seldom crashes the AIR CRAFT .birds hitting is a serious threat to AIRLINERS no doubt 2 minutes ago · LikeUnlike ·

Low Blow | 14 years ago | Reply Was reported that less than 3 hours after the Airblue incident, PIA spiked it's ticket prices up significantly, capitalizing on the people's sudden lack of faith in airblue's services. If this isn't a falsified press release by PIA to create the illusion of their ability to handle problems under pressure, I don't know what is. Classic case of controlled media banter, would've worked if it wasn't so sloppy and ill-timed.

Think therefore | 14 years ago | Reply I wonder what all the corruption & neoptism is doing to the safety programmes and safety management systems of the PIA...

Eagle eye | 14 years ago | Reply "when a bird smashed into its engine number one." Sir it should be "when a bird was sucked by engine no.1 due to throttle which resulted in failure of engine as fire erupted in it." instead of "when a bird smashed into its engine number one." a bird can only smash when the engine is turned off..& smashing into turned off engine doesn't do any harm.

Shahzad | 14 years ago | Reply This just cannot happen during taxi. The aged Boeing 747 was on the take off run, not taxing, when it had a fire on the engine. For God's sake PIA should stop telling lies.

Nabeel | Create Your First Website | 14 years ago | Reply Thank God everyone is safe.

Rehman | 14 years ago | Reply "Anyhow, after the 9/11 tragedy, the business of airlines went down all over the world. The situation of our national flag-carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has gone worse since then—corruption and nepotism have brought the corporation near to bankruptcy! "Western countries are not only suspicious of us but also our national airline today! In such a situation, the latest airline tragedy has added to the fear of the people about our air safety system. It’s time for the officers with intoxicating salary packages to come to their senses!" This is what blogger Habib R. Sulemani has written and I wanted to share it with your readers.

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