A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane with 105 people on board crash-landed on the runway of Oman’s main airport in Muscat on Monday, forcing the cancellation of all flights from the facility, a safety officer said on Monday.
“No one was hurt. Everyone including the crew disembarked safely,” said a PIA spokesman, adding that the landing gear collapsed. “We have sent a team of engineers to assess the situation.”
The PIA flight PK-259 took off from Sialkot, while the incident occurred as the plane landed in Muscat at around 4:00pm Pakistan standard time.
The airline passengers will now reach Pakistan on Tuesday after a 12-hour delay, the spokesman said. A PIA flight from Riyadh will accommodate these passengers, he added.
Aviation industry officials say that the landing gear can break down either because of metal fatigue, which means the component has run its life, or pilot error.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2013.
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