The individuals had already been seated in the plane when the cabin crew realised their names were not on the list. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
LAHORE: Two passengers without boarding passes managed to escape the routine boarding check and get aboard the plane on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Lahore to New York on Saturday, Express News reported.
Express News correspondent Aftab Khan reported that the two individuals had been seated in the plane and the door was about to be closed when the cabin crew found out that their list did not include the names of the said individuals.
The flight captain subsequently had the two persons disembark the plane.
Managing Director PIA Junaid Younus has taken notice of the incident and ordered an investigation into how this happened.
COMMENTS (27)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
The problem with this story: there is no name and shame. It is not enough to ask them to leave the plane. They should have been arrested, should be in custody awaiting trial, and their names should have been released to the media. And upon questioning they should reveal who they bribed. But apparently from the news story, they were simply offloaded and that's it. If they had valid US visas, they must be fairly well off, who knows maybe they are some kind of VIPs? ET: some investigative journalism here would be great. Perhaps question PIA and CAA authorities as to why they weren't arrested.
In Pakistan, anything and everything for the biradari and money. The people will bargain and barter away Pakistan for a fast buck and favor. Salams
This is gross corruption instead of negligence. This happens in other parts of the world as well, so lets not make it a Pakistani issue. Just happened in Seattle.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/09/us/seattle-airport-disturbance/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
The only person who will be suspended here will be the crew member who identified the culprits :-)
@Syed A. Mateen: Fully agree with you and laud the success of corrupt persons and making extra efforts to shining brightly the name of Pakistan globally as a nation of cheats, liars, corrupt, shameless, morally and mentally sick people.
@Waseem: To add a bit more truth & reality to the saga of misdeeds, it is the few corrupt, shameless and soulless persons of Pakistan who take money and do acts which make us look like a degraded and mentally dismantled nation. In this case FIA, immigration, airlines, airport security et-al are involved and money has overruled and defaced the fabric of morals and ethics; Long Live Pakistan as we are the leading torch bearers of corruption and lead the nations listing to be at the top. What an achievement which others have failed;
The two should be taken for the proverbial tour of the drawing room - Punjab police style.
They will give up the names of all those involved, including ASF, FIA (immigration) and PIA who were involved. This is a serious lapse of security. But I guess we have heard the last of this particular incident.
corrouption security checks are for law abiding citizens thieves can bypass all the checks by knowing which palms to grease
Find the culprit and punish them severely . Do not let those two passengers go also. They must be punished too. Where were the security personnel ? I would request the media to keep the public informed for the follow up news in this case. Thanks in advance.
Looks like these 2 free bees entered the plane directly from under the ramp. The boarding passes are stamped after personal and hand carry baggage check, then the boarding passes are again checked before entering the aircraft. Just like Pak Railway drivers carry passengers with them, looks like the pilot is involved in bringing them on board. This will be another case just swept under the carpet. Dont waste your time reporting.
Airline security is one of the main keys for access to world markets - if PIA wishes to regain its lost glory it needs to go back to basics of quality, security and service!
Once the Captain made a detour of a flight to Lahore on his way to Islamabad to drop his daughter. Official excuse was that the plane ran out of fuel on its way from KHI-ISB. The Captain was not disciplined. This time the Captain and the crew may have been obliging someone in FIA and Customs who let the 2 men through. They would have been caught at Manchester airport anyway but with BBC Breaking News. That's why PIA was not permitted non-stop LHE-JFK flights.
@Muhammad.: @Parvez: This is not just a PIA. Issue is it? This is an issue of security administration of Lahore airport.
Why is media just bringing up PIA news all the time - are we interested to know about what happens in the day to day affairs of the airline? I still remember in D.C (US) you are boarding a plane and there is an announcement going on "if there is anybody who does not have a boarding pass please exit the aircraft" lol thats america so I don't think there is much difference! These free riders must have got some kind of help from the ground staff Corrupt officials should be sacked!
May be this is another case of senior PIA employees "obliging" their cronies.
Why has PIA not been privatised as yet ??
It is next to impossible.
The passengers have to pass through several security checks.
At the first point the ASF only leave such passengers inside the departure lounge after checking the airline tickets, confirmation of seats, passports and valid visas.
I cannot believe that two passengers went inside the departure lounge without the security check of ASF.
Then the passengers have to go through the Customs, after putting their baggage on the scanner machines, presenting passports to the airline staff who after checking traveling documents throughly issue the boarding passes.
After that passengers have to again put the luggage on the scanner machines which goes through a tunnel for loading the same on the plane.
The passengers also have to go to the immigration counters where the immigration staff (FIA) take the pictures and before going into the boarding area, the passengers have to go through a final check of traveling documents including the boarding passes through FIA again.
Finally the ASF staff again but the security stamp on the hand carrying luggage and boarding passes.
If the passengers made their way into the aircraft without the boarding passes, it means that the entire system at the Lahore Airport is collapsed and it needs immediate attention of the higher ups to avoid an untoward seen which may make headlines of the worlds print and electronic media and a bad name for the country.
Inside job. More likely airport security or immigration staff is a culprit.
Start of PMLn govt. and extreme of negligence.
All PIA, immigration and security staff working at terminal during that period should be dismissed from their jobs. For the right money, they will sell the plane and passengers.
What else can be expected from free-riders?
In many airports you can't even get into the terminal without having at ticket let alone board a plane.
our systems are full of flaws. that's why European market is closed for PIA. be honest if you are interested to have access to international market.
And then people are outraged that why other countries hastle Pakistanis so much.