The plane landed back at Jinnah Airport and flight engineers are currently working to resolve the issue. The plane might take off again for its destination Islamabad after an hour.
Around 15 prominent personalities including Federal Minister Maula Bux Chandio, parliamentarian Yousuf Talpur, Secretary Production Gul Mohammad Rind and Shirin Arshad were also on board.
Sources told Express News that smoke was seen rising from one of the engines of the plane on take-off, however, a PIA spokesperson denied it.
Karachi airport manager Nasir Sheikh told The Express Tribune that the pilot immediately informed the administration when the fourth engine of the place experienced a technical fault.
Sheikh confirmed that the plane was stopped after the fourth engine’s starter failed to function properly.
“Media has highlighted the issue unnecessarily and tried to make an issue out of it,” he said. “There was no fire and no smoke. The fire vehicles were only sent for precautionary measures.”
The plane, with 421 passengers, was scheduled to depart from Karachi at 5:15pm.
In October, the chief justice had summoned PIA officials after his flight to Karachi was delayed by more than three hours.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ